I 

Hff' 


University  of  California  •  Berkeley 

From  the  Collection  of 
Joseph  Z.  Todd 

Gift  of 
Hatherly  B.  Todd 


ROBERT  LOUIS  STEVENSON 


Vol.  II 


TREASURE 
ISLAND 


St  THE  NOVELS  and 
TALES  OF  ROBERT 
LOUIS   STEVENSON 


TREASURE 
ISLAND  S 


^PUBLISHED  IN 
NEW  YORK  BY 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S 
SONS     *     *      1907      % 


Copyright,  1894,  by 
Robert  Louis  Stevensom 


TO 

LLOYD   OSBOURNE, 

AN   AMERICAN   GENTLEMAN, 

IN   ACCORDANCE   WITH   WHOSE  CLASSIC  TASTE 

THE   FOLLOWING  NARRATIVE   HAS   BEEN   DESIGNED, 

IT   IS  NOW,  IN   RETURN   FOR   NUMEROUS  DELIGHTFUL  HOURS, 

AND  WITH   THE   KINDEST  WISHES, 

Dedicate*) 

BY  HIS  AFFECTIONATE  FRIEND, 
THE  AUTHOR 


TO  THE  HESITATING  PURCHASER 

If  sailor  tales  to  sailor  tunes, 

Storm  and  adventure,  heat  and  cold, 
If  schooners,  islands,  and  maroons 

And  Buccaneers  and  buried  Gold, 
And  all  the  old  romance,  retold 

Exactly  in  the  ancient  way, 
Can  please,  as  me  they  pleased  of  old, 

The  wiser  youngsters  of  to-day  : 

— So  be  it,  and  fall  on!  If  not, 

If  studious  youth  no  longer  crave, 
His  ancient  appetites  forgot, 

Kingston,  or  Ballantyne  the  brave, 
Or  Cooper  of  the  wood  and  wave : 

So  be  it,  also  !  And  may  I 
And  all  my  pirates  share  the  grave 

Where  these  and  their  creations  liel 


MY  FIRST  BOOK — " TREASURE  ISLAND" 


IT  was  far,  indeed,  from  being  my  first  book,  for  I  am 
not  a  novelist  alone.  But  I  am  well  aware  that  my 
paymaster,  the  great  public,  regards  what  else  I  have 
written  with  indifference,  if  not  aversion.  If  it  call  upon 
me  at  all,  it  calls  on  me  in  the  familiar  and  indelible 
character;  and  when  I  am  asked  to  talk  of  my  first  book, 
no  question  in  the  world  but  what  is  meant  is  my  first 
novel. 

Sooner  or  later,  somehow,  anyhow,  I  was  bound  I 
was  to  write  a  novel.  It  seems  vain  to  ask  why.  Men 
are  born  with  various  manias :  from  my  earliest  child^ 
hood  it  was  mine  to  make  a  plaything  of  imaginary 
series  of  events ;  and  as  soon  as  I  was  able  to  write,  I 
became  a  good  friend  to  the  paper-makers.  Reams  upon 
reams  must  have  gone  to  the  making  of  "Rathillet," 
the  "Pentland  Rising,"1  the  "King's  Pardon"  (oth- 
erwise "Park  Whitehead"),  "Edward  Darren,"  "A 
Country  Dance,"  and  a  "Vendetta  in  the  West;"  and 
it  is  consolatory  to  remember  that  these  reams  are  now 

1  Ne  pas  confondre.  Not  the  slim  green  pamphlet  with  the  imprint 
of  Andrew  Elliott,  for  which  (as  I  see  with  amazement  from  the  book-, 
lists)  the  gentlemen  of  England  are  willing  to  pay  fancy  prices;  but  its 
predecessor,  a  bulky  historical  romance  without  a  spark  of  merit,  and 
now  deleted  from  the  world. 

Copyrighted  1894,  by  Robert  Louis  Stevenson 


MY   FIRST  BOOK— "TREASURE   ISLAND" 

all  ashes,  and  have  been  received  again  into  the  soil.  I 
have  named  but  a  few  of  my  ill-fated  efforts :  only  such, 
indeed,  as  came  to  a  fair  bulk  ere  they  were  desisted 
from;  and  even  so  they  cover  a  long  vista  of  years. 
"Rathillet"  was  attempted  before  fifteen,  the  "Ven- 
detta "  at  twenty-nine,  and  the  succession  of  defeats 
lasted  unbroken  till  I  was  thirty-one.  By  that  time  I 
had  written  little  books  and  little  essays  and  short 
stories,  and  had  got  patted  on  the  back  and  paid  for 
them — though  not  enough  to  live  upon.  I  had  quite  a 
reputation.  I  was  the  successful  man.  I  passed  my 
days  in  toil,  the  futility  of  which  would  sometimes  make 
my  cheek  to  burn, — that  I  should  spend  a  man's  energy 
upon  this  business,  and  yet  could  not  earn  a  livelihood ; 
and  still  there  shone  ahead  of  me  an  unattained  ideal. 
Although  I  had  attempted  the  thing  with  vigor  not  less 
than  ten  or  twelve  times,  I  had  not  yet  written  a  novel. 
AH — all  my  pretty  ones  —  had  gone  for  a  little,  and 
then  stopped  inexorably,  like  a  school-boy's  watch.  I 
might  be  compared  to  a  cricketer  of  many  years'  stand- 
ing who  should  never  have  made  a  run.  Anybody  can 
write  a  short  story — a  bad  one,  I  mean  —  who  has  in- 
dustry and  paper  and  time  enough ;  but  not  everyone 
may  hope  to  write  even  a  bad  novel.  It  is  the  length 
that  kills.  The  accepted  novelist  may  take  his  novel 
up  and  put  it  down,  spend  days  upon  it  in  vain,  and 
write  not  any  more  than  he  makes  haste  to  blot.  Not 
so  the  beginner.  Human  nature  has  certain  rights;  in- 
stinct— the  instinct  of  self-preservation — forbids  that 
any  man  (cheered  and  supported  by  the  consciousness 
of  no  previous  victory)  should  endure  the  miseries  of 
unsuccessful  literary  toil  beyond  a  period  to  be  meas- 


MY   FIRST   BOOK— "TREASURE   ISLAND" 

ured  in  weeks.  There  must  be  something  for  hope  to 
feed  upon.  The  beginner  must  have  a  slant  of  wind,  a 
lucky  vein  must  be  running,  he  must  be  in  one  of  those 
hours  when  the  words  come  and  the  phrases  balance 
of  themselves  —  even  to  begin.  And  having  begun, 
what  a  dread  looking  forward  is  that  until  the  book 
shall  be  accomplished!  For  so  long  a  time  the  slant  is 
to  continue  unchanged,  the  vein  to  keep  running;  for 
so  long  a  time  you  must  hold  at  command  the  same 
quality  of  style ;  for  so  long  a  time  your  puppets  are  to 
be  always  vital,  always  consistent,  always  vigorous.  I 
remember  I  used  to  look,  in  those  days,  upon  every 
three-volume  novel  with  a  sort  of  veneration,  as  a  feat 
—  not  possibly  of  literature — but  at  least  of  physical  and 
moral  endurance  and  the  courage  of  Ajax. 

In  the  fated  year  I  came  to  live  with  my  father  and 
mother  at  Kinnaird,  above  Pitlochry.  There  I  walked 
on  the  red  moors  and  by  the  side  of  the  golden  burn. 
The  rude,  pure  air  of  our  mountains  inspirited,  if  it  did 
not  inspire  us;  and  my  wife  and  I  projected  a  joint 
volume  of  bogie  stories,  for  which  she  wrote  "The 
Shadow  on  the  Bed, "  and  I  turned  out  '  *  Thrawn  Janet, " 
and  a  first  draft  of  the  "  Merry  Men."  I  love  my  native 
air,  but  it  does  not  love  me;  and  the  end  of  this  de- 
lightful period  was  a  cold,  a  fly  blister,  and  a  migration, 
by  Strathairdle  and  Glenshee,  to  the  Castleton  of  Brae- 
mar.  There  it  blew  a  good  deal  and  rained  in  a  pro- 
portion. My  native  air  was  more  unkind  than  man's 
ingratitude ;  and  I  must  consent  to  pass  a  good  deal  of 
my  time  between  four  walls  in  a  house  lugubriously 
known  as  "the  late  Miss  McGregor's  cottage."  And 
now  admire  the  finger  of  predestination.     There  was  a 


MY   FIRST   BOOK— "TREASURE  ISLAND" 

school-boy  in  the  late  Miss  McGregor's  cottage,  home 
for  the  holidays,  and  much  in  want  of  "  something 
craggy  to  break  his  mind  upon."  He  had  no  thought 
of  literature ;  it  was  the  art  of  Raphael  that  received  his 
fleeting  suffrages,  and  with  the  aid  of  pen  and  ink  and 
a  shilling  box  of  water-colours,  he  had  soon  turned  one 
of  the  rooms  into  a  picture-gallery.  My  more  imme- 
diate duty  towards  the  gallery  was  to  be  showman; 
but  I  would  sometimes  unbend  a  little,  join  the  artist 
(so  to  speak)  at  the  easel,  and  pass  the  afternoon  with 
him  in  a  generous  emulation,  making  coloured  drawings. 
On  one  of  these  occasions  I  made  the  map  of  an  island; 
it  was  elaborately  and  (I  thought)  beautifully  coloured ; 
the  shape  of  it  took  my  fancy  beyond  expression;  it 
contained  harbours  that  pleased  me  like  sonnets;  and 
with  the  unconsciousness  of  the  predestined,  I  ticketed 
my  performance  "  Treasure  Island."  I  am  told  there 
are  people  who  do  not  care  for  maps,  and  find  it  hard 
to  believe.  The  names,  the  shapes  of  the  woodlands, 
the  courses  of  the  roads  and  rivers,  the  prehistoric  foot- 
steps of  man  still  distinctly  traceable  up  hill  and  down 
dale,  the  mills  and  the  ruins,  the  ponds  and  the  ferries, 
perhaps  the  "Standing  Stone  "  or  the  "  Druidic  Circle " 
on  the  heath ;  here  is  an  inexhaustible  fund  of  interest 
for  any  man  with  eyes  to  see,  or  twopence  worth  of 
imagination  to  understand  with.  No  child  but  must 
remember  laying  his  head  in  the  grass,  staring  into  the 
infinitesimal  forest,  and  seeing  it  grow  populous  with 
fairy  armies.  Somewhat  in  this  way,  as  I  pored  upon 
my  map  of  "Treasure  Island,"  the  future  characters  of 
the  book  began  to  appear  there  visibly  among  imagi- 
nary woods ;  and  their  brown  faces  and  bright  weapons 


MY  FIRST   BOOK— "TREASURE   ISLAND" 

peeped  out  upon  me  from  unexpected  quarters,  as  they 
passed  to  and  fro,  fighting,  and  hunting  treasure,  on 
these  few  square  inches  of  a  flat  projection.  The  next 
thing  I  knew,  I  had  some  paper  before  me  and  was 
writing  out  a  list  of  chapters.  How  often  have  I  done 
so,  and  the  thing  gone  no  farther!  But  there  seemed 
elements  of  success  about  this  enterprise.  It  was  to  be 
a  story  for  boys ;  no  need  of  psychology  or  fine  writing; 
and  I  had  a  boy  at  hand  to  be  a  touchstone.  Women 
were  excluded.  I  was  unable  to  handle  a  brig  (which 
the  Hispanwla  should  have  been),  but  I  thought  I  could 
make  shift  to  sail  her  as  a  schooner  without  public 
shame.  And  then  I  had  an  idea  for  John  Silver  from 
which  I  promised  myself  funds  of  entertainment:  to 
take  an  admired  friend  of  mine  (whom  the  reader  very 
likely  knows  and  admires  as  much  as  I  do),  to  deprive 
him  of  all  his  finer  qualities  and  higher  graces  of  tem- 
perament, to  leave  him  with  nothing  but  his  strength, 
his  courage,  his  quickness,  and  his  magnificent  genial- 
ity, and  to  try  to  express  these  in  terms  of  the  culture 
of  a  raw  tarpaulin.  Such  psychical  surgery  is,  I  think, 
a  common  way  of  "  making  character;"  perhaps  it  is, 
indeed,  the  only  way.  We  can  put  in  the  quaint  figure 
that  spoke  a  hundred  words  with  us  yesterday  by  the 
wayside ;  but  do  we  know  him  ?  Our  friend,  with  his 
infinite  variety  and  flexibility,  we  know — but  can  we 
put  him  in  ?  Upon  the  first  we  must  engraft  secondary 
and  imaginary  qualities,  possibly  all  wrong;  from  the 
second,  knife  in  hand,  we  must  cut  away  and  deduct 
the  needless  arborescence  of  his  nature ;  but  the  trunk 
and  the  few  branches  that  remain  we  may  at  least  be 
fairly  sure  of. 

xiii 


MY   FIRST   BOOK— "TREASURE  ISLAND" 

On  a  chill  September  morning,  by  the  cheek  of  a  brisk 
fire,  and  the  rain  drumming  on  the  window,  I  began  the 
"  Sea  Cook,"  for  that  was  the  original  title.  I  have  be- 
gun (and  finished)  a  number  of  other  books,  but  I  can- 
not remember  to  have  sat  down  to  one  of  them  with 
more  complacency.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  for 
stolen  waters  are  proverbially  sweet.  I  am  now  upon 
a  painful  chapter.  No  doubt  the  parrot  once  belonged 
to  Robinson  Crusoe.  No  doubt  the  skeleton  is  con- 
veyed from  Poe.  I  think  little  of  these,  they  are  trifles 
and  details;  and  no  man  can  hope  to  have  a  monopoly 
of  skeletons  or  make  a  corner  in  talking  birds.  The 
stockade,  I  am  told,  is  from  "Masterman  Ready."  It 
may  be,  I  care  not  a  jot.  These  useful  writers  had  ful- 
filled the  poet's  saying :  departing,  they  had  left  behind 
them 

11  Footprints  on  the  sands  of  time  ; 
Footprints  that  perhaps  another " 

and  I  was  the  other!  It  is  my  debt  to  Washington  Irving 
that  exercises  my  conscience,  and  justly  so,  for  I  believe 
plagiarism  was  rarely  carried  farther.  I  chanced  to  pick 
up  the  "Tales  of  a  Traveller"  some  years  ago,  with  a 
view  to  an  anthology  of  prose  narrative,  and  the  book 
flew  up  and  struck  me :  Billy  Bones,  his  chest,  the  com- 
pany in  the  parlour,  the  whole  inner  spirit  and  a  good 
deal  of  the  material  detail  of  my  first  chapters  —  all  were 
there,  all  were  the  property  of  Washington  Irving.  But 
I  had  no  guess  of  it  then  as  I  sat  writing  by  the  fireside, 
in  what  seemed  the  springtides  of  a  somewhat  pedestrian 
inspiration ;  nor  yet  day  by  day,  after  lunch,  as  I  read 
aloud  my  morning's  work  to  the  family.  It  seemed  to 
me  original  as  sin ;  it  seemed  to  belong  to  me  like  my 


MY   FIRST   BOOK— "TREASURE   ISLAND" 

right  eye.  I  had  counted  on  one  boy;  I  found  I  had  two 
in  my  audience.  My  father  caught  fire  at  once  with  all 
the  romance  and  childishness  of  his  original  nature.  His 
own  stories,  that  every  night  of  his  life  he  put  himself 
to  sleep  with,  dealt  perpetually  with  ships,  roadside  inns, 
robbers,  old  sailors,  and  commercial  travellers  before  the 
era  of  steam.  He  never  finished  one  of  these  romances : 
the  lucky  man  did  not  require  to!  But  in  "Treasure 
Island  "  he  recognized  something  kindred  to  his  own 
imagination ;  it  was  his  kind  of  picturesque ;  and  he  not 
only  heard  with  delight  the  daily  chapter,  but  set  him- 
self actively  to  collaborate.  When  the  time  came  for 
Billy  Bones's  chest  to  be  ransacked,  he  must  have  passed 
the  better  part  of  a  day  preparing,  on  the  back  of  a  legal 
envelope,  an  inventory  of  its  contents,  which  I  exactly 
followed;  and  the  name  of  "Flint's  old  ship,"  the 
Walrus,  was  given  at  his  particular  request.  And 
now,  who  should  come  dropping  in,  ex  machina,  but 
Dr.  Jaap,  like  the  disguised  prince  who  is  to  bring  down 
the  curtain  upon  peace  and  happiness  in  the  last  act,  for 
he  carried  in  his  pocket  not  a  horn  or  a  talisman,  but  a 
publisher;  had,  in  fact,  been  charged  by  my  old  friend 
Mr.  Henderson  to  unearth  new  writers  for  "Young 
Folks."  Even  the  ruthlessness  of  a  united  family  recoiled 
before  the  extreme  measure  of  inflicting  on  our  guest  the 
mutilated  members  of  the  "Sea  Cook  ;"  at  the  same 
time  we  would  by  no  means  stop  our  readings,  and  ac- 
cordingly the  tale  was  begun  again  at  the  beginning,  and 
solemnly  redelivered  for  the  benefit  of  Dr.  Jaap.  From 
that  moment  on  I  have  thought  highly  of  his  critical 
faculty ;  for  when  he  left  us,  he  carried  away  the  manu- 
script in  his  portmanteau. 

XV 


MY  FIRST  BOOK— "TREASURE  ISLAND" 

Here,  then,  was  everything  to  keep  me  up — sympathy, 
help,  and  now  a  positive  engagement.  I  had  chosen  be- 
sides a  very  easy  style.  Compare  it  with  the  almost  con- 
temporary " Merry  Men;"  one  may  prefer  the  one  style, 
one  the  other — 'tis  an  affair  of  character,  perhaps  of 
mood ;  but  no  expert  can  fail  to  see  that  the  one  is  much 
more  difficult,  and  the  other  much  easier,  to  maintain. 
It  seems  as  though  a  full-grown,  experienced  man  of 
letters  might  engage  to  turn  out  "Treasure  Island  "  at  so 
many  pages  a  day,  and  keep  his  pipe  alight.  But  alas! 
this  was  not  my  case.  Fifteen  days  I  stuck  to  it,  and 
turned  out  fifteen  chapters  ;  and  then,  in  the  early 
paragraphs  of  the  sixteenth,  ignominiously  lost  hold. 
My  mouth  was  empty ;  there  was  not  one  word  more 
of  "  Treasure  Island  "  in  my  bosom;  and  here  were  the 
proofs  of  the  beginning  already  waiting  me  at  the  "Hand 
and  Spear ! "  There  I  corrected  them,  living  for  the  most 
part  alone,  walking  on  the  heath  at  Weybridge  in  dewy 
autumn  mornings,  a  good  deal  pleased  with  what  I  had 
done,  and  more  appalled  than  I  can  depict  to  you  in  words 
at  what  remained  for  me  to  do.  I  was  thirty-one ;  I  was 
the  head  of  a  family ;  I  had  lost  my  health ;  I  had  never 
yet  paid  my  way,  had  never  yet  made  two  hundred 
pounds  a  year ;  my  father  had  quite  recently  bought  back 
and  cancelled  a  book  that  was  judged  a  failure ;  was  this 
to  be  another  and  last  fiasco?  I  was  indeed  very 
close  on  despair;  but  I  shut  my  mouth  hard,  and  during 
the  journey  to  Davos,  where  I  was  to  pass  the  winter, 
had  the  resolution  to  think  of  other  things,  and  bury 
myself  in  the  novels  of  M.  du  Boisgobey.  Arrived  at 
my  destination,  down  I  sat  one  morning  to  the  unfinished 
tale,  and  behold !  it  flowed  from  me  like  small  talk ;  and 

xvi 


MY   FIRST  BOOK— "TREASURE  ISLAND" 

in  a  second  tide  of  delighted  industry,  and  again  at  the 
rate  of  a  chapter  a  day,  I  finished  "Treasure  Island. " 
It  had  to  be  transacted  almost  secretly.  My  wife  was  ill, 
the  school-boy  remained  alone  of  the  faithful,  and  John 
Addington  Symonds  (to  whom  I  timidly  mentioned 
what  I  was  engaged  on)  looked  on  me  askance.  He  was 
at  that  time  very  eager  I  should  write  on  the  "Charac- 
ters "  of  Theophrastus,  so  far  out  may  be  the  judgments 
of  the  wisest  men.  But  Symonds  (to  be  sure)  was 
scarce  the  confidant  to  go  to  for  sympathy  in  a  boy's 
story.  He  was  large-minded;  "a  full  man,"  if  there 
ever  was  one;  but  the  very  name  of  my  enterprise 
would  suggest  to  him  only  capitulations  of  sincerity  and 
solecisms  of  style.     Well,  he  was  not  far  wrong. 

"Treasure  Island" — it  was  Mr.  Henderson  who  de- 
leted the  first  title,  "The  Sea  Cook " — appeared  duly  in 
the  story  paper,  where  it  figured  in  the  ignoble  midst 
without  woodcuts,  and  attracted  not  the  least  attention. 
I  did  not  care.  I  liked  the  tale  myself,  for  much  the  same 
reason  as  my  father  liked  the  beginning:  it  was  my  kind 
of  picturesque.  I  was  not  a  little  proud  of  John  Silver 
also,  and  to  this  day  rather  admire  that  smooth  and 
formidable  adventurer.  What  was  infinitely  more  ex- 
hilarating, I  had  passed  a  landmark ;  I  had  finished  a  tale, 
and  written  "The  End"  upon  my  manuscript,  as  I  had 
not  done  since  the  "Pentland  Rising,"  when  I  was  a 
boy  of  sixteen,  not  yet  at  college.  In  truth  it  was  so  by 
a  set  of  lucky  accidents :  had  not  Dr.  Jaap  come  on  his 
visit,  had  not  the  tale  flowed  from  me  with  singular 
ease,  it  must  have  been  laid  aside  like  its  predecessors, 
and  found  a  circuitous  and  unlamented  way  to  the  fire. 
Purists  may  suggest  it  would  have  been  better  so.    I  am 


MY  FIRST  BOOK— "TREASURE  ISLAND" 

not  of  that  mind.  The  tale  seems  to  have  given  much 
pleasure,  and  it  brought  (or  was  the  means  of  bringing) 
fire  and  food  and  wine  to  a  deserving  family  in  which  I 
took  an  interest.     I  need  scarce  say  I  mean  my  own. 

But  the  adventures  of  "Treasure  Island  "  are  not  yet 
quite  at  an  end.  I  had  written  it  up  to  the  map.  The 
map  was  the  chief  part  of  my  plot.  For  instance,  I  had 
called  an  islet  "Skeleton  Island,"  not  knowing  what  I 
meant,  seeking  only  for  the  immediate  picturesque ;  and 
it  was  to  justify  this  name  that  I  broke  into  the  gallery 
of  Mr.  Poe  and  stole  Flint's  pointer.  And  in  the  same 
way,  it  was  because  I  had  made  two  harbours  that  the 
Hispaniola  was  sent  on  her  wanderings  with  Israel 
Hands.  The  time  came  when  it  was  decided  to  repub- 
lish, and  I  sent  in  my  manuscript  and  the  map  along 
with  it  to  Messrs.  Cassell.  The  proofs  came,  they  were 
corrected,  but  I  heard  nothing  of  the  map.  I  wrote  and 
asked;  was  told  it  had  never  been  received,  and  sat 
aghast.  It  is  one  thing  to  draw  a  map  at  random,  set  a 
scale  in  one  corner  of  it  at  a  venture,  and  write  up  a  story 
to  the  measurements.  It  is  quite  another  to  have  to  ex- 
amine a  whole  book,  make  an  inventory  of  all  the  allu- 
sions contained  in  it,  and  with  a  pair  of  compasses  pain- 
fully design  a  map  to  suit  the  data.  I  did  it,  and  the 
map  was  drawn  again  in  my  father's  office,  with  embel- 
lishments of  blowing  whales  and  sailing  ships ;  and  my 
father  himself  brought  into  service  a  knack  he  had  of 
various  writing,  and  elaborately  forged  the  signature  of 
Captain  Flint  and  the  sailing  directions  of  Billy  Bones. 
But  somehow  it  was  never  "Treasure  Island"  to  me. 

I  have  said  it  was  the  most  of  the  plot.  I  might  almost 
say  it  was  the  whole.     A  few  reminiscences  of  Poe,  De- 

xviii 


MY  FIRST  BOOK— "TREASURE  ISLAND" 

foe,  and  Washington  Irving,  a  copy  of  Johnson's  ''Buc- 
caneers," the  name  of  the  Dead  Man's  Chest  from  Kings- 
ley's  "At  Last,"  some  recollections  of  canoeing  on  the 
high  seas,  a  cruise  in  a  fifteen-ton  schooner  yacht,  and 
the  map  itself  with  its  infinite,  eloquent  suggestion, 
made  up  the  whole  of  my  materials.  It  is  perhaps  not 
often  that  a  map  figures  so  largely  in  a  tale ;  yet  it  is  al- 
ways important.  The  author  must  know  his  country- 
side, whether  real  or  imaginary,  like  his  hand;  the  dis- 
tances, the  points  of  the  compass,  the  place  of  the  sun's 
rising,  the  behaviour  of  the  moon,  should  all  be  beyond 
cavil.  And  how  troublesome  the  moon  is !  I  have  come 
to  grief  over  the  moon  in  "  Prince  Otto;  "  and,  so  soon 
as  that  was  pointed  out  to  me,  adopted  a  precaution 
which  I  recommend  to  other  men  —  I  never  write  now 
without  an  almanac.  With  an  almanac,  and  the  map 
of  the  country  and  the  plan  of  every  house,  either  actu- 
ally plotted  on  paper  or  clearly  and  immediately  appre- 
hended in  the  mind,  a  man  may  hope  to  avoid  some  of 
the  grossest  possible  blunders.  With  the  map  before 
him,  he  will  scarce  allow  the  sun  to  set  in  the  east,  as 
it  does  in  the  "Antiquary."  With  the  almanac  at  hand, 
he  will  scarce  allow  two  horsemen,  journeying  on  the 
most  urgent  affair,  to  employ  six  days,  from  three  of  the 
Monday  morning  till  late  in  the  Saturday  night,  upon  a 
journey  of,  say,  ninety  or  a  hundred  miles ;  and  before 
the  week  is  out,  and  still  on  the  same  nags,  to  cover 
fifty  in  one  day,  as  he  may  read  at  length  in  the  inimi- 
table novel  of  "Rob  Roy."  And  it  is  certainly  well, 
though  far  from  necessary,  to  avoid  such  croppers.  But 
it  is  my  contention  —  my  superstition,  if  you  like  —  that 
he  who  is  faithful  to  his  map,  and  consults  it,  and  draws 


MY  FIRST  BOOK— "TREASURE  ISLAND" 

from  it  his  inspiration,  daily  and  hourly,  gains  positive 
support,  and  not  mere  negative  immunity  from  acci- 
dent. The  tale  has  a  root  there ;  it  grows  in  that  soil ; 
it  has  a  spine  of  its  own  behind  the  words.  Better  if 
the  country  be  real,  and  he  has  walked  every  foot  of  it 
and  knows  every  milestone.  But,  even  with  imaginary 
places,  he  will  do  well  in  the  beginning  to  provide  a 
map.  As  he  studies  it,  relations  will  appear  that  he  had 
not  thought  upon.  He  will  discover  obvious  though 
unsuspected  short  cuts  and  footpaths  for  his  messen- 
gers; and  even  when  a  map  is  not  all  the  plot,  as  it 
was  in  "Treasure  Island,"  it  will  be  found  to  be  a  mine 
of  suggestion. 

Robert  Louis  Stevenson. 


XX 


CONTENTS 

Part  I 
THE  OLD  BUCCANEER 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I    The  Old  Sea  Dog  at  the  "Admiral  Benbow"  ....  3 

II     Black  Dog  appears  and  disappears 11 

III  The  Black  Spot 19 

IV  The  Sea-chest 27 

V  The  Last  of  the  Blind  Man 35 

VI    The  Captain's  Papers 42 

Part  II 

THE  SEA  COOK 

VII    I  go  to  Bristol 53 

VIII    At  the  Sign  of  the  "Spy-glass" 59 

IX    Powder  and  Arms 66 

X    The  Voyage 73 

XI    What  I  Heard  in  the  Apple  Barrel 80 

XII    Council  of  War 88 

Part  III 
MY  SHORE  ADVENTURE 

XIII  How  my  Shore  Adventure  began 97 

XIV  The  First  Blow 103 

XV    The  Man  of  the  Island no 

xxi 


CONTENTS 

Part  IV 
THE  STOCKADE 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XVI    Narrative  continued  by  the  Doctor  :   How  the  Ship 

was  Abandoned 121 

XVII    Narrative  Continued  by  the  Doctor  :  The  Jolly-boat's 

Last  Trip 127 

XVIII    Narrative  Continued  by  the  Doctor  :  End  of  the  First 

Day's  Fighting 133 

XIX    Narrative  Resumed  by  Jim  Hawkins  :  The  Garrison  in 

the  Stockade 139 

XX    Silver's  Embassy 146 

XXI    The  Attack 153 

Part  V 
MY  SEA  ADVENTURE 

XXII  How  my  Sea  Adventure  began 163 

XXIII  The  Ebb-tide  Runs 170 

XXIV  The  Cruise  of  the  Coracle 176 

XXV  I  Strike  the  Jolly  Roger 183 

XXVI     Israel  Hands 189 

XXVII    "Pieces  of  Eight" 199 


Part  VI 
CAPTAIN   SILVER 

XXVIII    In  the  Enemy's  Camp 209 

XXIX    The  Black  Spot  Again 219 

XXX    On  Parole 227 

XXXI    The  Treasure  Hunt — Flint's  Pointer 236 

XXXII  The  Treasure  Hunt — The  Voice  among  the  Trees    .  244 

XXXIII  The  Fall  of  a  Chieftain 252 

XXXIV  And  Last 260 


PART  I 

THE  OLD  BUCCANEER 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  OLD  SEA  DOG  AT  THE    "ADMIRAL  BENBOW " 

SQUIRE  TRELAWNEY,  Dr.  Livesey,  and  the  rest  of 
these  gentlemen  having  asked  me  to  write  down 
the  whole  particulars  about  Treasure  Island,  from  the 
beginning  to  the  end,  keeping  nothing  back  but  the 
bearings  of  the  island,  and  that  only  because  there  is  still 
treasure  not  yet  lifted,  I  take  up  my  pen  in  the  year  of 
grace  17 — ,  and  go  back  to  the  time  when  my  father 
kept  the  "Admiral  Benbow"  inn,  and  the  brown  old 
seaman,  with  the  sabre  cut,  first  took  up  his  lodging 
under  our  roof. 

I  remember  him  as  if  it  were  yesterday,  as  he  came 
plodding  to  the  inn  door,  his  sea-chest  following  behind 
him  in  a  hand-barrow ;  a  tall,  strong,  heavy,  nut-brown 
man ;  his  tarry  pigtail  falling  over  the  shoulders  of  his 
soiled  blue  coat;  his  hands  ragged  and  scarred,  with 
black,  broken  nails;  and  the  sabre  cut  across  one  cheek, 
a  dirty,  livid  white.  I  remember  him  looking  round  the 
cove  and  whistling  to  himself  as  he  did  so,  and  then 
breaking  out  in  that  old  sea-song  that  he  sang  so  often 
afterwards :  — 

"  Fifteen  men  on  the  dead  man's  chest  — 
Yo-ho-ho,  and  a  bottle  of  rum !  " 
3 


TREASURE   ISLAND 

in  the  high,  old  tottering  voice  that  seemed  to  have 
been  tuned  and  broken  at  the  capstan  bars.  Then  he 
rapped  on  the  door  with  a  bit  of  stick  like  a  handspike 
that  he  carried,  and  when  my  father  appeared,  called 
roughly  for  a  glass  of  rum.  This,  when  it  was  brought 
to  him,  he  drank  slowly,  like  a  connoisseur,  lingering 
on  the  taste,  and  still  looking  about  him  at  the  cliffs  and 
up  at  our  signboard. 

"This  is  a  handy  cove,"  says  he,  at  length;  "and  a 
pleasant  sittyated  grog-shop.    Much  company,  mate  ?  " 

My  father  told  him  no,  very  little  company,  the  more 
was  the  pity. 

"Well,  then,"  said  he,  "this  is  the  berth  for  me. 
Here  you,  matey,"  he  cried  to  the  man  who  trundled 
the  barrow ;  "bring  up  alongside  and  help  up  my  chest. 
I'll  stay  here  a  bit,"  he  continued.  "I'm  a  plain  man; 
rum  and  bacon  and  eggs  is  what  I  want,  and  that  head 
up  there  for  to  watch  ships  off.  What  you  mought  call 
me  ?  You  mought  call  me  captain.  Oh,  I  see  what 
you're  at  —  there;"  and  he  threw  down  three  or  four 
gold  pieces  on  the  threshold.  "  You  can  tell  me  when 
I've  worked  through  that,"  says  he,  looking  as  fierce  as 
a  commander. 

And,  indeed,  bad  as  his  clothes  were,  and  coarsely  as 
he  spoke,  he  had  none  of  the  appearance  of  a  man  who 
sailed  before  the  mast ;  but  seemed  like  a  mate  or  skip- 
per, accustomed  to  be  obeyed  or  to  strike.  The  man 
who  came  with  the  barrow  told  us  the  mail  had  set  him 
down  the  morning  before  at  the  "Royal  George;  "  that 
he  had  inquired  what  inns  there  were  along  the  coast, 
and  hearing  ours  well  spoken  of,  I  suppose,  and  de- 
scribed as  lonely,  had  chosen  it  from  the  others  for  his 

4 


THE  OLD  SEA   DOG  AT  THE   "ADMIRAL  BENBOW" 

place  of  residence.    And  that  was  all  we  could  learn  of 
our  guest. 

He  was  a  very  silent  man  by  custom.  All  day  he 
hung  round  the  cove,  or  upon  the  cliffs,  with  a  brass 
telescope ;  all  evening  he  sat  in  a  corner  of  the  parlour 
next  the  fire,  and  drank  rum  and  water  very  strong. 
Mostly  he  would  not  speak  when  spoken  to;  only  look 
up  sudden  and  fierce,  and  blow  through  his  nose  like  a 
fog-horn ;  and  we  and  the  people  who  came  about  our 
house  soon  learned  to  let  him  be.  Every  day,  when  he 
came  back  from  his  stroll,  he  would  ask  if  any  seafaring 
men  had  gone  by  along  the  road  ?  At  first  we  thought 
it  was  the  want  of  company  of  his  own  kind  that  made 
him  ask  this  question;  but  at  last  we  began  to  see  he 
was  desirous  to  avoid  them.  When  a  seaman  put  up 
at  the  "Admiral  Benbow  "  (as  now  and  then  some  did, 
making  by  the  coast  road  for  Bristol),  he  would  look  in 
at  him  through  the  curtained  door  before  he  entered  the 
parlour;  and  he  was  always  sure  to  be  as  silent  as  a 
mouse  when  any  such  was  present.  For  me,  at  least, 
there  was  no  secret  about  the  matter;  for  I  was,  in  a 
way,  a  sharer  in  his  alarms.  He  had  taken  me  aside 
one  day,  and  promised  me  a  silver  fourpenny  on  the 
first  of  every  month  if  I  would  only  keep  my  '*  weather- 
eye  open  for  a  seafaring  man  with  one  leg,"  and  let  him 
know  the  moment  he  appeared.  Often  enough,  when 
the  first  of  the  month  came  round,  and  I  applied  to  him 
for  my  wage,  he  would  only  blow  through  his  nose  at 
me,  and  stare  me  down ;  but  before  the  week  was  out 
he  was  sure  to  think  better  of  it,  bring  me  my  fourpenny 
piece,  and  repeat  his  orders  to  look  out  for  "the  sea- 
faring man  with  one  leg." 

5- 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

How  that  personage  haunted  my  dreams,  I  need 
scarcely  tell  you.  On  stormy  nights,  when  the  wind 
shook  the  four  corners  of  the  house,  and  the  surf  roared 
along  the  cove  and  up  the  cliffs,  I  would  see  him  in  a 
thousand  forms,  and  with  a  thousand  diabolical  expres- 
sions. Now  the  leg  would  be  cut  off  at  the  knee,  now 
at  the  hip;  now  he  was  a  monstrous  kind  of  a  creature 
who  had  never  had  but  the  one  leg,  and  that  in  the  mid- 
dle of  his  body.  To  see  him  leap  and  run  and  pursue 
me  over  hedge  and  ditch  was  the  worst  of  nightmares. 
And  altogether  I  paid  pretty  dear  for  my  monthly  four- 
penny  piece,  in  the  shape  of  these  abominable  fancies. 

But  though  I  was  so  terrified  by  the  idea  of  the  sea- 
faring man  with  one  leg,  I  was  far  less  afraid  of  the  cap- 
tain himself  than  anybody  else  who  knew  him.  There 
were  nights  when  he  took  a  deal  more  rum  and  water 
than  his  head  would  carry;  and  then  he  would  some- 
times sit  and  sing  his  wicked,  old,  wild  sea-songs, 
minding  nobody;  but  sometimes  he  would  call  for 
glasses  round,  and  force  all  the  trembling  company  to 
listen  to  his  stories  or  bear  a  chorus  to  his  singing.  Often 
I  have  heard  the  house  shaking  with  "  Yo-ho-ho,  and  a 
bottle  of  rum ; "  all  the  neighbours  joining  in  for  dear 
life,  with  the  fear  of  death  upon  them,  and  each  singing 
louder  than  the  other,  to  avoid  remark.  For  in  these 
fits  he  was  the  most  over-riding  companion  ever  known ; 
he  would  slap  his  hand  on  the  table  for  silence  all  round ; 
he  would  fly  up  in  a  passion  of  anger  at  a  question,  or 
sometimes  because  none  was  put,  and  so  he  judged  the 
company  was  not  following  his  story.  Nor  would  he 
allow  any  one  to  leave  the  inn  till  he  had  drunk  himself 
sleepy  and  reeled  off  to  bed. 

6 


THE  OLD  SEA   DOG   AT  THE   "ADMIRAL  BENBOW" 

His  stories  were  what  frightened  people  worst  of  all. 
Dreadful  stories  they  were;  about  hanging,  and  walking 
the  plank,  and  storms  at  sea,  and  the  Dry  Tortugas, 
and  wild  deeds  and  places  on  the  Spanish  Main.  By 
his  own  account  he  must  have  lived  his  life  among  some 
of  the  wickedest  men  that  God  ever  allowed  upon  the 
sea;  and  the  language  in  which  he  told  these  stories 
shocked  our  plain  country  people  almost  as  much  as  the 
crimes  that  he  described.  My  father  was  always  say- 
ing the  inn  would  be  ruined,  for  people  would  soon 
cease  coming  there  to  be  tyrannised  over  and  put  down, 
and  sent  shivering  to  their  beds ;  but  I  really  believe  his 
presence  did  us  good.  People  were  frightened  at  the 
time,  but  on  looking  back  they  rather  liked  it;  it  was  a 
fine  excitement  in  a  quiet  country  life;  and  there  was 
even  a  party  of  the  younger  men  who  pretended  to  ad- 
mire him,  calling  him  a  "true  sea-dog,"  and  a  "real 
old  salt,"  and  such  like  names,  and  saying  there  was 
the  sort  of  man  that  made  England  terrible  at  sea. 

In  one  way,  indeed,  he  bade  fair  to  ruin  us ;  for  he 
kept  on  staying  week  after  week,  and  at  last  month 
after  month,  so  that  all  the  money  had  been  long  ex- 
hausted, and  still  my  father  never  plucked  up  the  heart 
to  insist  on  having  more.  If  ever  he  mentioned  it,  the 
captain  blew  through  his  nose  so  loudly,  that  you  might 
say  he  roared,  and  stared  my  poor  father  out  of  the  room. 
I  have  seen  him  wringing  his  hands  after  such  a  rebuff, 
and  I  am  sure  the  annoyance  and  the  terror  he  lived  in 
must  have  greatly  hastened  his  early  and  unhappy  death. 

All  the  time  he  lived  with  us  the  captain  made  no 
change  whatever  in  his  dress  but  to  buy  some  stockings 
from  a  hawker.     One  of  the  cocks  of  his  hat  having 

7 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

fallen  down,  he  let  it  hang  from  that  day  forth,  though 
it  was  a  great  annoyance  when  it  blew.  I  remember 
the  appearance  of  his  coat,  which  he  patched  himself 
up-stairs  in  his  room,  and  which,  before  the  end,  was 
nothing  but  patches.  He  never  wrote  or  received  a 
letter,  and  he  never  spoke  with  any  but  the  neighbours, 
and  with  these,  for  the  most  part,  only  when  drunk  on 
rum.  The  great  sea-chest  none  of  us  had  ever  seen 
open. 

He  was  only  once  crossed,  and  that  was  towards  the 
end,  when  my  poor  father  was  far  gone  in  a  decline  that 
took  him  off.  Dr.  Livesey  came  late  one  afternoon  to 
see  the  patient,  took  a  bit  of  dinner  from  my  mother, 
and  went  into  the  parlour  to  smoke  a  pipe  until  his 
horse  should  come  down  from  the  hamlet,  for  we  had 
no  stabling  at  the  old  "  Benbow."  I  followed  him  in, 
and  I  remember  observing  the  contrast  the  neat,  bright 
doctor,  with  his  powder  as  white  as  snow,  and  his 
bright,  black  eyes  and  pleasant  manners,  made  with  the 
coltish  country  folk,  and  above  all,  with  that  filthy, 
heavy,  bleared  scarecrow  of  a  pirate  of  ours,  sitting 
far  gone  in  rum,  with  his  arms  on  the  table.  Suddenly 
he  —  the  captain,  that  is  —  began  to  pipe  up  his  eternal 
song : — 

"  Fifteen  men  on  the  dead  man's  chest  — 
Yo-ho-ho,  and  a  bottle  of  rum ! 
Drink  and  the  devil  had  done  for  the  rest  — 
Yo-ho-ho,  and  a  bottle  of  rum! " 

At  first  I  had  supposed  "the  dead  man's  chest"  to  be 
that  identical  big  box  of  his  up-stairs  in  the  front  room, 
and  the  thought  had  been  mingled  in  my  nightmares 
with  that  of  the  one-legged  seafaring  man.    But  by  this 

8 


THE  OLD  SEA   DOG  AT  THE   "ADMIRAL  BENBOW" 

time  we  had  all  long  ceased  to  pay  any  particular  notice 
to  the  song ;  it  was  new,  that  night,  to  nobody  but  Dr. 
Livesey,  and  on  him  I  observed  it  did  not  produce  an 
agreeable  effect,  for  he  looked  up  for  a  moment  quite  an- 
grily before  he  went  on  with  his  talk  to  old  Taylor,  the 
gardener,  on  a  new  cure  for  the  rheumatics.  In  the 
meantime,  the  captain  gradually  brightened  up  at  his 
own  music,  and  at  last  flapped  his  hand  upon  the  table 
before  him  in  a  way  we  all  knew  to  mean  —  silence. 
The  voices  stopped  at  once,  all  but  Dr.  Livesey's;  he 
went  on  as  before,  speaking  clear  and  kind,  and  draw- 
ing briskly  at  his  pipe  between  every  word  or  two.  The 
captain  glared  at  him  for  a  while,  flapped  his  hand  again, 
glared  still  harder,  and  at  last  broke  out  with  a  villain- 
ous, low  oath:  "Silence,  there,  between  decks!" 

"Were  you  addressing  me,  sir?"  says  the  doctor; 
and  when  the  ruffian  had  told  him,  with  another  oath, 
that  this  was  so,  "I  have  only  one  thing  to  say  to  you, 
sir,"  replies  the  doctor,  "that  if  you  keep  on  drinking 
rum,  the  world  will  soon  be  quit  of  a  very  dirty 
scoundrel!" 

The  old  fellow's  fury  was  awful.  He  sprang  to  his 
feet,  drew  and  opened  a  sailor's  clasp-knife,  and,  balanc- 
ing it  open  on  the  palm  of  his  hand,  threatened  to  pin 
the  doctor  to  the  wall. 

The  doctor  never  so  much  as  moved.  He  spoke  to 
him,  as  before,  over  his  shoulder,  and  in  the  same  tone 
of  voice;  rather  high,  so  that  all  the  room  might  hear, 
but  perfectly  calm  and  steady : — 

"If  you  do  not  put  that  knife  this  instant  in  your 
pocket,  I  promise,  upon  my  honour,  you  shall  hang  at 
the  next  assizes." 

9 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

Then  followed  a  battle  of  looks  between  them ;  but 
the  captain  soon  knuckled  under,  put  up  his  weapon,  and 
resumed  his  seat,  grumbling  like  a  beaten  dog. 

"And  now,  sir,"  continued  the  doctor,  "since  I  now 
know  there's  such  a  fellow  in  my  district,  you  may  count 
I'll  have  an  eye  upon  you  day  and  night.  I'm  not  a 
doctor  only;  I'm  a  magistrate;  and  if  I  catch  a  breath  of 
complaint  against  you,  if  it's  only  for  a  piece  of  incivil- 
ity like  to-night's,  I'll  take  effectual  means  to  have  you 
hunted  down  and  routed  out  of  this.    Let  that  suffice." 

Soon  after  Dr.  Livesey's  horse  came  to  the  door,  and 
he  rode  away;  but  the  captain  held  his  peace  that 
evening,  and  for  many  evenings  to  come. 


CHAPTER  II 

BLACK   DOG  APPEARS   AND   DISAPPEARS 

It  was  not  very  long  after  this  that  there  occurred  the 
first  of  the  mysterious  events  that  rid  us  at  last  of  the 
captain,  though  not,  as  you  will  see,  of  his  affairs.  It 
was  a  bitter  cold  winter,  with  long,  hard  frosts  and 
heavy  gales;  and  it  was  plain  from  the  first  that  my 
poor  father  was  little  likely  to  see  the  spring.  He  sank 
daily,  and  my  mother  and  I  had  all  the  inn  upon  our 
hands;  and  were  kept  busy  enough,  without  paying 
much  regard  to  our  unpleasant  guest. 

It  was  one  January  morning,  very  early  —  a  pinching, 
frosty  morning  —  the  cove  all  grey  with  hoar-frost,  the 
ripple  lapping  softly  on  the  stones,  the  sun  still  low  and 
only  touching  the  hilltops  and  shining  far  to  seaward. 
The  captain  had  risen  earlier  than  usual,  and  set  out 
down  the  beach,  his  cutlass  swinging  under  the  broad 
skirts  of  the  old  blue  coat,  his  brass  telescope  under  his 
arm,  his  hat  tilted  back  upon  his  head.  I  remember  his 
breath  hanging  like  smoke  in  his  wake  as  he  strode  off, 
and  the  last  sound  I  heard  of  him,  as  he  turned  the  big 
rock,  was  a  loud  snort  of  indignation,  as  though  his 
mind  was  still  running  upon  Dr.  Livesey. 

Well,  mother  was  up-stairs  with  father;  and  I  was 
laying  the  breakfast-table  against  the  captain's  return, 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

when  the  parlour  door  opened,  and  a  man  stepped  in  on 
whom  I  had  never  set  my  eyes  before.  He  was  a  pale, 
tallowy  creature,  wanting  two  fingers  of  the  left  hand ; 
and,  though  he  wore  a  cutlass,  he  did  not  look  much  like 
a  fighter.  I  had  always  my  eye  open  for  seafaring  men, 
with  one  leg  or  two,  and  I  remember  this  one  puzzled 
me.  He  was  not  sailorly,  and  yet  he  had  a  smack  of 
the  sea  about  him  too. 

I  asked  him  what  was  for  his  service,  and  he  said  he 
would  take  rum ;  but  as  I  was  going  out  of  the  room  to 
fetch  it  he  sat  down  upon  a  table,  and  motioned  me  to  draw 
near.  I  paused  where  I  was  with  my  napkin  in  my  hand. 

' '  Come  here,  sonny, "  says  he.    ' '  Come  nearer  here. " 

I  took  a  step  nearer. 

"  Is  this  here  table  for  my  mate,  Bill  ?  "  he  asked,  with 
a  kind  of  leer. 

I  told  him  I  did  not  know  his  mate  Bill;  and  this  was 
for  a  person  who  stayed  in  our  house,  whom  we  called 
the  captain. 

"Well,"  said  he,  "my  mate  Bill  would  be  called  the 
captain,  as  like  as  not.  He  has  a  cut  on  one  cheek,  and 
a  mighty  pleasant  way  with  him,  particularly  in  drink, 
has  my  mate,  Bill.  We'll  put  it,  for  argument  like,  that 
your  captain  has  a  cut  on  one  cheek  —  and  we'll  put  it, 
if  you  like,  that  that  cheek's  the  right  one.  Ah,  well! 
I  told  you.     Now,  is  my  mate  Bill  in  this  here  house  ?  " 

I  told  him  he  was  out  walking. 

"Which  way,  sonny  ?    Which  way  is  he  gone  ?" 

And  when  I  had  pointed  out  the  rock  and  told  him 
how  the  captain  was  likely  to  return,  and  how  soon, 
and  answered  a  few  other  questions,  "Ah,"  said  he, 
"this'll  be  as  good  as  drink  to  my  mate  Bill." 


BLACK   DOG   APPEARS  AND   DISAPPEARS 

The  expression  of  his  face  as  he  said  these  words  was 
not  at  all  pleasant,  and  I  had  my  own  reasons  for  think- 
ing that  the  stranger  was  mistaken,  even  supposing  he 
meant  what  he  said.  But  it  was  no  affair  of  mine,  I 
thought ;  and,  besides,  it  was  difficult  to  know  what  to 
do.  The  stranger  kept  hanging  about  just  inside  the 
inn  door,  peering  round  the  corner  like  a  cat  waiting  for 
a  mouse.  Once  I  stepped  out  myself  into  the  road,  but 
he  immediately  called  me  back,  and,  as  I  did  not  obey 
quick  enough  for  his  fancy,  a  most  horrible  change  came 
over  his  tallowy  face,  and  he  ordered  me  in,  with  an  oath 
that  made  me  jump.  As  soon  as  I  was  back  again  he 
returned  to  his  former  manner,  half  fawning,  half  sneer- 
ing, patted  me  on  the  shoulder,  told  me  I  was  a  good 
boy,  and  he  had  taken  quite  a  fancy  to  me.  "  I  have  a 
son  of  my  own,"  said  he,  "  as  like  you  as  two  blocks, 
and  he's  all  the  pride  of  my  'art.  But  the  great  thing 
for  boys  is  discipline,  sonny  —  discipline.  Now,  if  you 
had  sailed  along  of  Bill,  you  wouldn't  have  stood  there 
to  be  spoke  to  twice  —  not  you.  That  was  never  Bill's 
way,  nor  the  way  of  sich  as  sailed  with  him.  And  here, 
sure  enough,  is  my  mate  Bill,  with  a  spy-glass  under 
his  arm,  bless  his  old  'art,  to  be  sure.  You  and  me'll 
just  go  back  into  the  parlour,  sonny,  and  get  behind  the 
door,  and  we'll  give  Bill  a  little  surprise  —  bless  his  'art, 
I  say  again." 

So  saying,  the  stranger  backed  along  with  me  into  the 
parlour,  and  put  me  behind  him  in  the  corner,  so  that 
we  were  both  hidden  by  the  open  door.  I  was  very  un- 
easy and  alarmed,  as  you  may  fancy,  and  it  rather  added 
to  my  fears  to  observe  that  the  stranger  was  certainly 
frightened  himself.     He  cleared  the  hilt  of  his  cutlass 

»3 


TREASURE   ISLAND 

and  loosened  the  blade  in  the  sheath ;  and  all  the  time 
we  were  waiting  there  he  kept  swallowing  as  if  he  felt 
what  we  used  to  call  a  lump  in  the  throat. 

At  last  in  strode  the  captain,  slammed  the  door  behind 
him,  without  looking  to  the  right  or  left,  and  marched 
straight  across  the  room  to  where  his  breakfast  awaited 
him. 

"  Bill,"  said  the  stranger,  in  a  voice  that  I  thought  he 
had  tried  to  make  bold  and  big. 

The  captain  spun  round  on  his  heel  and  fronted  us; 
all  the  brown  had  gone  out  of  his  face,  and  even  his 
nose  was  blue ;  he  had  the  look  of  a  man  who  sees  a 
ghost,  or  the  evil  one,  or  something  worse,  if  anything 
can  be ;  and,  upon  my  word,  I  felt  sorry  to  see  him,  all 
in  a  moment,  turn  so  old  and  sick. 

"Come,  Bill,  you  know  me;  you  know  an  old  ship- 
mate, Bill,  surely,"  said  the  stranger. 

The  captain  made  a  sort  of  gasp. 

"Black  Dog!"  said  he. 

"And  who  else?"  returned  the  other,  getting  more 
at  his  ease.  "  Black  Dog  as  ever  was,  come  for  to  see 
his  old  shipmate  Billy,  at  the  '  Admiral  Benbow '  inn. 
Ah,  Bill,  Bill,  we  have  seen  a  sight  of  times,  us  two, 
since  I  lost  them  two  talons,"  holding  up  his  mutilated 
hand. 

* '  Now,  look  here, "  said  the  captain ;  * '  you've  run  me 
down  ;  here  I  am ;  well,  then,  speak  up :  what  is  it  ?  " 

"That's  you,  Bill,"  returned  Black  Dog,  "you're  in 
the  right  of  it,  Billy.  I'll  have  a  glass  of  rum  from  this 
dear  child  here,  as  I've  took  such  a  liking  to;  and  we'll 
sit  down,  if  you  please,  and  talk  square,  like  old  ship- 
mates." 

•4 


BLACK  DOG  APPEARS  AND   DISAPPEARS 

When  I  returned  with  the  rum,  they  were  already 
seated  on  either  side  of  the  captain's  breakfast-table  — 
Black  Dog  next  to  the  door,  and  sitting  sideways,  so  as 
to  have  one  eye  on  his  old  shipmate,  and  one,  as  I 
thought,  on  his  retreat. 

He  bade  me  go,  and  leave  the  door  wide  open.  "  None 
of  your  keyholes  for  me,  sonny,"  he  said;  and  I  left  them 
together,  and  retired  into  the  bar. 

For  a  long  time,  though  I  certainly  did  my  best  to 
listen,  I  could  hear  nothing  but  a  low  gabbling;  but  at 
last  the  voices  began  to  grow  higher,  and  I  could  pick 
up  a  word  or  two,  mostly  oaths,  from  the  captain. 

"No,  no,  no,  no;  and  an  end  of  it!"  he  cried  once. 
And  again,  "  If  it  comes  to  swinging,  swing  all,  say  I." 

Then  all  of  a  sudden  there  was  a  tremendous  explo- 
sion of  oaths  and  other  noises  —  the  chair  and  table  went 
over  in  a  lump,  a  clash  of  steel  followed,  and  then  a  cry 
of  pain,  and  the  next  instant  I  saw  Black  Dog  in  full 
flight,  and  the  captain  hotly  pursuing,  both  with  drawn 
cutlasses,  and  the  former  streaming  blood  from  the  left 
shoulder.  Just  at  the  door,  the  captain  aimed  at  the 
fugitive  one  last  tremendous  cut,  which  would  certainly 
have  split  him  to  the  chine  had  it  not  been  intercepted 
by  our  big  signboard  of  Admiral  Benbow.  You  may 
see  the  notch  on  the  lower  side  of  the  frame  to  this  day. 

That  blow  was  the  last  of  the  battle.  Once  out  upon 
the  road,  Black  Dog,  in  spite  of  his  wound,  showed  a 
wonderful  clean  pair  of  heels,  and  disappeared  over  the 
edge  of  the  hill  in  half  a  minute.  The  captain,  for  his 
part,  stood  staring  at  the  signboard  like  a  bewildered 
man.  Then  he  passed  his  hand  over  his  eyes  several 
times,  and  at  last  turned  back  into  the  house. 

15 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

"Jim,"  says  he,  "rum;  "  and  as  he  spoke,  he  reeled 
a  little,  and  caught  himself  with  one  hand  against  the 
wall. 

"Are  you  hurt  ? "  cried  I. 

"  Rum,"  he  repeated.  "  I  must  get  away  from  here. 
Rum!  rum!" 

I  ran  to  fetch  it ;  but  I  was  quite  unsteadied  by  all  that 
had  fallen  out,  and  I  broke  one  glass  and  fouled  the  tap, 
and  while  I  was  still  getting  in  my  own  way,  I  heard  a 
loud  fall  in  the  parlour,  and,  running  in,  beheld  the  cap- 
tain lying  full  length  upon  the  floor.  At  the  same  in- 
stant my  mother,  alarmed  by  the  cries  and  fighting, 
came  running  down-stairs  to  help  me.  Between  us 
we  raised  his  head.  He  was  breathing  very  loud  and 
hard ;  but  his  eyes  were  closed,  and  his  face  a  horrible 
colour. 

"Dear,  deary  me,"  cried  my  mother,  "what  a  dis- 
grace upon  the  house!    And  your  poor  father  sick!  " 

In  the  meantime,  we  had  no  idea  what  to  do  to  help 
the  captain,  nor  any  other  thought  but  that  he  had  got 
his  death-hurt  in  the  scuffle  with  the  stranger.  I  got 
the  rum,  to  be  sure,  and  tried  to  put  it  down  his  throat ; 
but  his  teeth  were  tightly  shut,  and  his  jaws  as  strong 
as  iron.  It  was  a  happy  relief  for  us  when  the  door 
opened  and  Doctor  Livesey  came  in,  on  his  visit  to  my 
father. 

"Oh,  doctor,"  we  cried,  "what  shall  we  do? 
Where  is  he  wounded  ?  " 

' '  Wounded  ?  A  fiddle-stick's  end ! "  said  the  doctor. 
"No  more  wounded  than  you  or  I.  The  man  has  had 
a  stroke,  as  I  warned  him.  Now,  Mrs.  Hawkins,  just 
you  run  up-stairs  to  your  husband,  and  tell  him,  if  pos- 

\6 


BLACK  DOG  APPEARS  AND  DISAPPEARS 

sible,  nothing  about  it.  For  my  part,  I  must  do  my 
best  to  save  this  fellow's  trebly  worthless  life;  and  Jim,, 
you  get  me  a  basin." 

When  I  got  back  with  the  basin,  the  doctor  had  al- 
ready ripped  up  the  captain's  sleeve,  and  exposed  his 
great  sinewy  arm.  It  was  tattooed  in  several  places, 
"Here's  luck,"  "A  fair  wind,"  and  "Billy  Bones  his 
fancy,"  were  very  neatly  and  clearly  executed  on  the 
forearm ;  and  up  near  the  shoulder  there  was  a  sketch 
of  a  gallows  and  a  man  hanging  from  it  —  done,  as  I 
thought,  with  great  spirit. 

"Prophetic,"  said  the  doctor,  touching  this  picture 
with  his  finger.  "And  now,  Master  Billy  Bones,  if  that 
be  your  name,  we'll  have  a  look  at  the  colour  of  your 
blood.    Jim,"  he  said,  "are  you  afraid  of  blood?" 

"No,  sir,"  said  I. 

"Well,  then,"  said  he,  "you  hold  the  basin;"  and 
with  that  he  took  his  lancet  and  opened  a  vein. 

A  great  deal  of  blood  was  taken  before  the  captain 
opened  his  eyes  and  looked  mistily  about  him.  First  he 
recognised  the  doctor  with  an  unmistakable  frown; 
then  his  glance  fell  upon  me,  and  he  looked  relieved. 
But  suddenly  his  colour  changed,  and  he  tried  to  raise 
himself,  crying: — 

"Where's  Black  Dog?" 

"  There  is  no  Black  Dog  here,"  said  the  doctor,  "ex- 
cept what  you  have  on  your  own  back.  You  have  been 
drinking  rum ;  you  have  had  a  stroke,  precisely  as  I  told 
you;  and  I  have  just,  very  much  against  my  own  will, 
dragged  you  headforemost  out  of  the  grave.  Now,  Mr. 
Bones " 

"That's  not  my  name,"  he  interrupted. 
'7 


TREASURE   ISLAND 

"Much  I  care,"  returned  the  doctor.  " It's  the  name 
of  a  buccaneer  of  my  acquaintance ;  and  I  call  you  by  it 
for  the  sake  of  shortness,  and  what  I  have  to  say  to  you 
is  this :  one  glass  of  rum  won't  kill  you,  but  if  you  take 
one  you'll  take  another  and  another,  and  I  stake  my  wig 
if  you  don't  break  off  short,  you'll  die  —  do  you  under- 
stand that? — die,  and  go  to  your  own  place,  like  the 
man  in  the  Bible.  Come,  now,  make  an  effort.  I'll  help 
you  to  your  bed  for  once." 

Between  us,  with  much  trouble,  we  managed  to  hoist 
him  up-stairs,  and  laid  him  on  his  bed,  where  his  head 
fell  back  on  the  pillow,  as  if  he  were  almost  fainting. 

"Now,  mind  you,"  said  the  doctor,  "  I  clear  my  con- 
science—  the  name  of  rum  for  you  is  death." 

And  with  that  he  went  off  to  see  my  father,  taking 
me  with  him  by  the  arm. 

"This  is  nothing,"  he  said,  as  soon  as  he  had  closed 
the  door.  "  I  have  drawn  blood  enough  to  keep  him 
quiet  awhile;  he  should  lie  for  a  week  where  he  is  — 
that  is  the  best  thing  for  him  and  you;  but  another 
stroke  would  settle  him." 


18 


CHAPTER  III 

THE    BLACK    SPOT 

About  noon  I  stopped  at  the  captain's  door  with  some 
cooling  drinks  and  medicines.  He  was  lying  very  much 
as  we  had  left  him,  only  a  little  higher,  and  he  seemed 
both  weak  and  excited. 

"Jim, "  he  said, ' '  you're  the  only  one  here  that's  worth 
anything;  and  you  know  I've  been  always  good  to  you. 
Never  a  month  but  I've  given  you  a  silver  fourpenny  for 
yourself.  And  now  you  see,  mate,  I'm  pretty  low,  and 
deserted  by  all ;  and  Jim,  you'll  bring  me  one  noggin  of 
rum,  now,  won't  you,  matey  ?  " 

"The  doctor "  I  began. 

But  he  broke  in  cursing  the  doctor,  in  a  feeble  voice, 
but  heartily.  "Doctors  is  all  swabs,"  he  said;  "and 
that  doctor  there,  why,  what  do  he  know  about  seafaring 
men  ?  I  been  in  places  hot  as  pitch,  and  mates  dropping 
round  with  Yellow  Jack,  and  the  blessed  land  a-heaving 
like  the  sea  with  earthquakes  —  what  do  the  doctor 
know  of  lands  like  that  ? — and  I  lived  on  rum,  I  tell  you. 
It's  been  meat  and  drink,  and  man  and  wife,  to  me;  and 
if  I'm  not  to  have  my  rum  now  I'm  a  poor  old  hulk  on 
a  lee  shore,  my  blood  'II  be  on  you,  Jim,  and  that  Doctor 
swab ; "  and  he  ran  on  again  for  a  while  with  curses. 
"Look,  Jim,  how  my  fingers  fidges,"  he  continued,  in 

19 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

the  pleading  tone.  "I  can't  keep  'em  still,  not  I.  I 
haven't  had  a  drop  this  blessed  day.  That  doctor's  a 
fool,  I  tell  you.  If  I  don't  have  a  drain  o'  rum,  Jim,  I'll 
have  the  horrors;  I  seen  some  on  'em  already.  I  seen 
old  Flint  in  the  corner  there,  behind  you;  as  plain  as 
print,  I  seen  him ;  and  if  I  get  the  horrors,  I'm  a  man 
that  has  lived  rough,  and  I'll  raise  Cain.  Your  doctor 
hisself  said  one  glass  wouldn't  hurt  me.  I'll  give  you 
a  golden  guinea  for  a  noggin,  Jim." 

He  was  growing  more  and  more  excited,  and  this 
alarmed  me  for  my  father,  who  was  very  low  that  day, 
and  needed  quiet;  besides,  I  was  reassured  by  the  doc- 
tor's words,  now  quoted  to  me,  and  rather  offended  by 
the  offer  of  a  bribe. 

"I  want  none  of  your  money,"  said  I,  "but  what  you 
owe  my  father.     I'll  get  you  one  glass,  and  no  more." 

When  I  brought  it  to  him,  he  seized  it  greedily,  and 
drank  it  out. 

"Ay,  ay,"  said  he,  "that's  some  better,  sure  enough. 
And  now,  matey,  did  that  doctor  say  how  long  I  was 
to  lie  here  in  this  old  berth  ?  " 

"A  week  at  least,"  said  I. 

"Thunder!"  he  cried.  "A  week!  I  can't  do  that; 
they'd  have  the  black  spot  on  me  by  then.  The  lubbers 
is  going  about  to  get  the  wind  of  me  this  blessed  mo- 
ment ;  lubbers  as  couldn't  keep  what  they  got,  and  want 
to  nail  what  is  another's.  Is  that  seamanly  behaviour, 
now,  I  want  to  know  ?  But  I'm  a  saving  soul.  I  never 
wasted  good  money  of  mine,  nor  lost  it  neither;  and  I'll 
trick  'em  again.  I'm  not  afraid  on  'em.  I'll  shake  out 
another  reef,  matey,  and  daddle  'em  again." 

As  he  was  thus  speaking,  he  had  risen  from  bed  with 


THE  BLACK  SPOT 

great  difficulty,  holding  to  my  shoulder  with  a  grip  that 
almost  made  me  cry  out,  and  moving  his  legs  like  so 
much  dead  weight.  His  words,  spirited  as  they  were 
in  meaning,  contrasted  sadly  with  the  weakness  of  the 
voice  in  which  they  were  uttered.  He  paused  when  he 
had  got  into  a  sitting  position  on  the  edge. 

" That  doctor's  done  me,"  he  murmured.  "  My  ears 
is  singing.     Lay  me  back." 

Before  I  could  do  much  to  help  him  he  had  fallen  back 
again  to  his  former  place,  where  he  lay  for  a  while  silent. 

"Jim,"  he  said,  at  length,  "you  saw  that  seafaring 
man  to-day  ?  " 

"Black  Dog?"  I  asked. 

"Ah!  Black  Dog,"  says  he.  "He's  a  bad  'un;  but 
there's  worse  that  put  him  on.  Now,  if  I  can't  get 
away  nohow,  and  they  tip  me  the  black  spot,  mind 
you,  it's  my  old  sea-chest  they're  after;  you  get  on  a 
horse  —  you  can,  can't  you?  Well,  then,  you  get  on 
a  horse,  and  go  to  —  well,  yes,  I  will! — to  that  eternal 
Doctor  swab,  and  tell  him  to  pipe  all  hands  —  magis- 
trates and  sich  —  and  he'll  lay  'em  aboard  at  the  *  Admi- 
ral Benbow ' —  all  old  Flint's  crew,  man  and  boy,  all  on 
'em  that's  left.  I  was  first  mate,  I  was,  old  Flint's  first 
mate,  and  I'm  the  on'y  one  as  knows  the  place.  He  gave 
it  me  at  Savannah,  when  he  lay  a-dying,  like  as  if  I  was  to 
now,  you  see.  But  you  won't  peach  unless  they  get  the 
black  spot  on  me,  or  unless  you  see  that  Black  Dog  again, 
or  a  seafaring  man  with  one  leg,  Jim  —  him  above  all." 

"  But  what  is  the  black  spot,  Captain  ?"  I  asked. 

"That's  a  summons,  mate.  I'll  tell  you  if  they  get 
that.  But  you  keep  your  weather-eye  open,  Jim,  and 
I'll  share  with  you  equals,  upon  my  honour." 

21 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

He  wandered  a  little  longer,  his  voice  growing  weaker; 
but  soon  after  I  had  given  him  his  medicine,  which  he 
took  like  a  child,  with  the  remark,  "If  ever  a  seaman 
wanted  drugs,  it's  me,"  he  fell  at  last  into  a  heavy, 
swoon-like  sleep,  in  which  I  left  him.  What  I  should 
have  done  had  all  gone  well  I  do  not  know.  Probably 
I  should  have  told  the  whole  story  to  the  doctor;  for  I 
was  in  mortal  fear  lest  the  captain  should  repent  of  his 
confessions  and  make  an  end  of  me.  But  as  things  fell 
out,  my  poor  father  died  quite  suddenly  that  evening, 
which  put  all  other  matters  on  one  side.  Our  natural 
distress,  the  visits  of  the  neighbours,  the  arranging  of 
the  funeral,  and  all  the  work  of  the  inn  to  be  carried  on 
in  the  meanwhile,  kept  me  so  busy  that  I  had  scarcely 
time  to  think  of  the  captain,  far  less  to  be  afraid  of  him. 

He  got  down-stairs  next  morning,  to  be  sure,  and  had 
his  meals  as  usual,  though  he  ate  little,  and  had  more, 
I  am  afraid,  than  his  usual  supply  of  rum,  for  he  helped 
himself  out  of  the  bar,  scowling  and  blowing  through 
his  nose,  and  no  one  dared  to  cross  him.  On  the  night 
before  the  funeral  he  was  as  drunk  as  ever;  and  it  was 
shocking,  in  that  house  of  mourning,  to  hear  him  sing- 
ing away  at  his  ugly  old  sea-song;  but,  weak  as  he  was, 
we  were  all  in  the  fear  of  death  for  him,  and  the  doctor 
was  suddenly  taken  up  with  a  case  many  miles  away, 
and  was  never  near  the  house  after  my  father's  death. 
I  have  said  the  captain  was  weak;  and  indeed  he  seemed 
rather  to  grow  weaker  than  regain  his  strength.  He 
clambered  up  and  down-stairs,  and  went  from  the  par- 
lour to  the  bar  and  back  again,  and  sometimes  put  his 
nose  out  of  doors  to  smell  the  sea,  holding  on  to  the 
walls  as  he  went  for  support,  and  breathing  hard  and 


THE   BLACK  SPOT 

fast  like  a  man  on  a  steep  mountain.  He  never  partio 
ularly  addressed  me,  and  it  is  my  belief  he  had  as  good 
as  forgotten  his  confidences;  but  his  temper  was  more 
flighty,  and,  allowing  for  his  bodily  weakness,  more 
violent  than  ever.  He  had  an  alarming  way  now  when 
he  was  drunk  of  drawing  his  cutlass  and  laying  it  bare 
before  him  on  the  table.  But,  with  all  that,  he  minded 
people  less,  and  seemed  shut  up  in  his  own  thoughts 
and  rather  wandering.  Once,  for  instance,  to  our  ex- 
treme wonder,  he  piped  up  to  a  different  air,  a  kind  of 
country  love-song,  that  he  must  have  learned  in  his 
youth  before  he  had  begun  to  follow  the  sea. 

So  things  passed  until,  the  day  after  the  funeral,  and 
about  three  o'clock  of  a  bitter,  foggy,  frosty  afternoon, 
I  was  standing  at  the  door  for  a  moment,  full  of  sad 
thoughts  about  my  father,  when  I  saw  some  one  draw- 
ing slowly  near  along  the  road.  He  was  plainly  blind, 
for  he  tapped  before  him  with  a  stick,  and  wore  a  great 
green  shade  over  his  eyes  and  nose ;  and  he  was  hunched, 
as  if  with  age  or  weakness,  and  wore  a  huge  old  tattered 
sea-cloak  with  a  hood,  that  made  him  appear  positively 
deformed.  I  never  saw  in  my  life  a  more  dreadful  look- 
ing figure.  He  stopped  a  little  from  the  inn,  and,  rais- 
ing his  voice  in  an  odd  sing-song,  addressed  the  air  in 
front  of  him : — 

"Will  any  kind  friend  inform  a  poor  blind  man,  who 
has  lost  the  precious  sight  of  his  eyes  in  the  gracious  de- 
fence of  his  native  country,  England,  and  God  bless  King 
George !  —  where  or  in  what  part  of  this  country  he  may 
now  be  ?  " 

"You  are  at  the  'Admiral  Benbow,'  Black  Hill  Cove, 
my  good  man/'  said  I. 

23 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

M I  hear  a  voice,"  said  he  —  "a  young  voice.  Will 
you  give  me  your  hand,  my  kind  young  friend,  and  lead 
me  in?" 

I  held  out  my  hand,  and  the  horrible,  soft-spoken, 
eyeless  creature  gripped  it  in  a  moment  like  a  vice.  I 
was  so  much  startled  that  I  struggled  to  withdraw;  but 
the  blind  man  pulled  me  close  up  to  him  with  a  single 
action  of  his  arm. 

"Now,  boy,"  he  said,  "take  me  in  to  the  captain." 

"Sir,"  said  I,  "upon  my  word  I  dare  not." 

"Oh,"  he  sneered,  "that's  it!  Take  me  in  straight, 
or  I'll  break  your  arm." 

And  he  gave  it,  as  he  spoke,  a  wrench  that  made  me 
cry  out. 

"Sir,"  said  I,  "it  is  for  yourself  I  mean.  The  captain 
is  not  what  he  used  to  be.  He  sits  with  a  drawn  cut- 
lass.    Another  gentleman " 

"Come,  now,  march,"  interrupted  he;  and  I  never 
heard  a  voice  so  cruel,  and  cold,  and  ugly  as  that  blind 
man's.  It  cowed  me  more  than  the  pain ;  and  I  began 
to  obey  him  at  once,  walking  straight  in  at  the  door  and 
towards  the  parlour,  where  our  sick  old  buccaneer  was 
sitting,  dazed  with  rum.  The  blind  man  clung  close  to 
me,  holding  me  in  one  iron  fist,  and  leaning  almost 
more  of  his  weight  on  me  than  I  could  carry.  "Lead 
me  straight  up  to  him,  and  when  I'm  in  view,  cry  out, 
1  Here's  a  friend  for  you,  Bill. '  If  you  don't,  I'll  do  this ; " 
and  with  that  he  gave  me  a  twitch  that  I  thought  would 
have  made  me  faint.  Between  this  and  that,  I  was  so 
utterly  terrified  of  the  blind  beggar  that  I  forgot  my  ter- 
ror of  the  captain,  and  as  I  opened  the  parlour  door, 
cried  out  the  words  he  had  ordered  in  a  trembling  voice. 

24 


THE  BLACK  SPOT 

The  poor  captain  raised  his  eyes,  and  at  one  look  the 
rum  went  out  of  him,  and  left  him  staring  sober.  The 
expression  of  his  face  was  not  so  much  of  terror  as  of 
mortal  sickness.  He  made  a  movement  to  rise,  but  I  do 
not  believe  he  had  enough  force  left  in  his  body. 

1 '  Now,  Bill,  sit  where  you  are, "  said  the  beggar.  ' '  If 
I  can't  see,  I  can  hear  a  finger  stirring.  Business  is  busi- 
ness. Hold  out  your  left  hand.  Boy,  take  his  left  hand 
by  the  wrist,  and  bring  it  near  to  my  right." 

We  both  obeyed  him  to  the  letter,  and  I  saw  him  pass 
something  from  the  hollow  of  the  hand  that  held  his 
stick  into  the  palm  of  the  captain's,  which  closed  upon 
it  instantly. 

"  And  now  that's  done,"  said  the  blind  man;  and  at 
the  words  he  suddenly  left  hold  of  me,  and  with  incredi- 
ble accuracy  and  nimbleness,  skipped  out  of  the  parlour 
and  into  the  road,  where,  as  I  still  stood  motionless,  I 
could  hear  his  stick  go  tap-tap-tapping  into  the  dis- 
tance. 

It  was  some  time  before  either  I  or  the  captain  seemed 
to  gather  our  senses;  but  at  length,  and  about  at  the 
same  moment,  I  released  his  wrist,  which  I  was  still 
holding,  and  he  drew  in  his  hand  and  looked  sharply 
into  the  palm. 

"Ten  o'clock!"  he  cried.  "Six  hours.  We'll  do 
them  yet; "  and  he  sprang  to  his  feet. 

Even  as  he  did  so,  he  reeled,  put  his  hand  to  his  throat, 
stood  swaying  for  a  moment,  and  then,  with  a  peculiar 
sound,  fell  from  his  whole  height  face  foremost  to  the 
floor. 

I  ran  to  him  at  once,  calling  to  my  mother.  But 
haste  was  all  in  vain.     The  captain  had  been  struck 

25 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

dead  by  thundering  apoplexy.  It  is  a  curious  thing  to 
understand,  for  I  had  certainly  never  liked  the  man, 
though  of  late  I  had  begun  to  pity  him,  but  as  soon  as 
I  saw  that  he  was  dead,  I  burst  into  a  flood  of  tears.  It 
was  the  second  death  I  had  known,  and  the  sorrow  of 
the  first  was  still  fresh  in  my  heart. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  SEA-CHEST 

I  lost  no  time,  of  course,  in  telling  my  mother  all  that 
I  knew,  and  perhaps  should  have  told  her  long  before, 
and  we  saw  ourselves  at  once  in  a  difficult  and  danger- 
ous position.  Some  of  the  man's  money — if  he  had 
any — was  certainly  due  to  us;  but  it  was  not  likely 
that  our  captain's  shipmates,  above  all  the  two  speci- 
mens seen  by  me,  Black  Dog  and  the  blind  beggar, 
would  be  inclined  to  give  up  their  booty  in  payment  of 
the  dead  man's  debts.  The  captain's  order  to  mount 
at  once  and  ride  for  Doctor  Livesey  would  have  left  my 
mother  alone  and  unprotected,  which  was  not  to  be 
thought  of.  Indeed,  it  seemed  impossible  for  either  of 
us  to  remain  much  longer  in  the  house :  the  fall  of  coals 
in  the  kitchen  grate,  the  very  ticking  of  the  clock,  filled 
us  with  alarms.  The  neighbourhood,  to  our  ears, 
seemed  haunted  by  approaching  footsteps;  and  what 
between  the  dead  body  of  the  captain  on  the  parlour 
floor,  and  the  thought  of  that  detestable  blind  beggar 
hovering  near  at  hand,  and  ready  to  return,  there  were 
moments  when,  as  the  saying  goes,  I  jumped  in  my 
skin  for  terror.  Something  must  speedily  be  resolved 
upon ;  and  it  occurred  to  us  at  last  to  go  forth  together 
and  seek  help  in  the  neighbouring  hamlet.    No  sooner 

27 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

said  than  done.  Bare-headed  as  we  were,  we  ran  out 
at  once  in  the  gathering  evening  and  the  frosty  fog. 

The  hamlet  lay  not  many  hundred  yards  away  though 
out  of  view,  on  the  other  side  of  the  next  cove;  and 
what  greatly  encouraged  me,  it  was  in  an  opposite 
direction  from  that  whence  the  blind  man  had  made  his 
appearance,  and, whither  he  had  presumably  returned. 
We  were  not  many  minutes  on  the  road,  though  we 
sometimes  stopped  to  lay  hold  of  each  other  and  hearken. 
But  there  was  no  unusual  sound — nothing  but  the  low 
wash  of  the  ripple  and  the  croaking  of  the  inmates  of 
the  wood. 

It  was  already  candle-light  when  we  reached  the  ham- 
let, and  I  shall  never  forget  how  much  I  was  cheered  to  see 
the  yellow  shine  in  doors  and  windows;  but  that,  as  it 
proved,  was  the  best  of  the  help  we  were  likely  to  get  in 
that  quarter.  For  —  you  would  have  thought  men  would 
have  been  ashamed  of  themselves  —  no  soul  would  con- 
sent to  return  with  us  to  the  "  Admiral  Benbow."  The 
more  we  told  of  our  troubles,  the  more  —  man,  woman, 
and  child  —  they  clung  to  the  shelter  of  their  houses. 
The  name  of  Captain  Flint,  though  it  was  strange  to  me, 
was  well  enough  known  to  some  there,  and  carried  a 
great  weight  of  terror.  Some  of  the  men  who  had  been 
to  field-work  on  the  far  side  of  the  "  Admiral  Benbow" 
remembered,  besides,  to  have  seen  several  strangers  on 
the  road,  and,  taking  them  to  be  smugglers,  to  have 
bolted  away ;  and  one  at  least  had  seen  a  little  lugger  in 
what  we  called  Kitt's  Hole.  For  that  matter,  any  one 
who  was  a  comrade  of  the  captain's  was  enough  to 
frighten  them  to  death.  And  the  short  and  the  long  of 
the  matter  was,  that  while  we  could  get  several  who 

28 


THE  SEA-CHEST 

were  willing  enough  to  ride  to  Dr.  Livesey's,  which  lay 
in  another  direction,  not  one  would  help  us  to  defend 
the  inn. 

They  say  cowardice  is  infectious ;  but  then  argument 
is,  on  the  other  hand,  a  great  emboldener;  and  so  when 
each  had  said  his  say,  my  mother  made  them  a  speech. 
She  would  not,  she  declared,  lose  money  that  belonged 
to  her  fatherless  boy;  "if  none  of  the  rest  of  you  dare," 
she  said,  "Jim  and  I  dare.  Back  we  will  go,  the  way 
we  came,  and  small  thanks  to  you  big,  hulking,  chicken- 
hearted  men.  We'll  have  that  chest  open,  if  we  die  for 
it.  And  I'll  thank  you  for  that  bag,  Mrs.  Crossley,  to 
bring  back  our  lawful  money  in." 

Of  course,  I  said  I  would  go  with  my  mother;  and  of 
course  they  all  cried  out  at  our  foolhardiness ;  but  even 
then  not  a  man  would  go  along  with  us.  All  they  would 
do  was  to  give  me  a  loaded  pistol,  lest  we  were  attacked ; 
and  to  promise  to  have  horses  ready  saddled,  in  case 
we  were  pursued  on  our  return ;  while  one  lad  was  to 
ride  forward  to  the  doctor's  in  search  of  armed  assist- 
ance. 

My  heart  was  beating  finely  when  we  two  set  forth 
in  the  cold  night  upon  this  dangerous  venture.  A  full 
moon  was  beginning  to  rise  and  peered  redly  through 
the  upper  edges  of  the  fog,  and  this  increased  our  haste, 
for  it  was  plain,  before  we  came  forth  again,  that  all 
would  be  as  bright  as  day,  and  our  departure  exposed  to 
the  eyes  of  any  watchers.  We  slipped  along  the  hedges, 
noiseless  and  swift,  nor  did  we  see  or  hear  anything  to 
increase  our  terrors,  till,  to  our  relief,  the  door  of  the 
"Admiral  Benbow"  had  closed  behind  us. 

I  slipped  the  bolt  at  once,  and  we  stood  and  panted 
29 


TREASURE   ISLAND 

for  a  moment  in  the  dark,  alone  in  the  house  with  the 
dead  captain's  body.  Then  my  mother  got  a  candle  in 
the  bar,  and,  holding  each  other's  hands,  we  advanced 
into  the  parlour.  He  lay  as  we  had  left  him,  on  his 
back,  with  his  eyes  open,  and  one  arm  stretched  out. 

"  Draw  down  the  blind,  Jim,"  whispered  my  mother; 
"they  might  come  and  watch  outside.  And  now," 
said  she,  when  I  had  done  so,  "  we  have  to  get  the  key 
off  that ;  and  who's  to  touch  it,  I  should  like  to  know!" 
and  she  gave  a  kind  of  sob  as  she  said  the  words. 

I  went  down  on  my  knees  at  once.  On  the  floor 
close  to  his  hand  there  was  a  little  round  of  paper, 
blackened  on  the  one  side.  I  could  not  doubt  that  this 
was  the  black  spot ;  and  taking  it  up,  I  found  written 
on  the  other  side,  in  a  very  good,  clear  hand,  this  short 
message:  "You  have  till  ten  to-night." 

"He  had  till  ten,  mother,"  said  I;  and  just  as  I  said 
it,  our  old  clock  began  striking.  This  sudden  noise 
startled  us  shockingly;  but  the  news  was  good,  for  it 
was  only  six. 

"Now,  Jim,"  she  said,  "that  key." 

I  felt  in  his  pockets,  one  after  another.  A  few  small 
coins,  a  thimble,  and  some  thread  and  big  needles,  a 
piece  of  pigtail  tobacco  bitten  away  at  the  end,  his  gully 
with  the  crooked  handle,  a  pocket  compass,  and  a  tin- 
der-box, were  all  that  they  contained,  and  I  began  to 
despair. 

"  Perhaps  it's  round  his  neck,"  suggested  my  mother. 

Overcoming  a  strong  repugnance,  I  tore  open  his  shirt 
at  the  neck,  and  there,  sure  enough,  hanging  to  a  bit 
of  tarry  string,  which  I  cut  with  his  own  gully,  we 
found  the  key.     At  this  triumph  we  were  filled  with 

30 


THE  SEA-CHEST 

hope,  and  hurried  up-stairs,  without  delay,  to  the  little 
room  where  he  had  slept  so  long,  and  where  his  box 
had  stood  since  tHe  day  of  his  arrival. 

It  was  like  any  other  seaman's  chest  on  the  outside, 
the  initial  "B."  burned  on  the  top  of  it  with  a  hot  iron, 
and  the  corners  somewhat  smashed  and  broken  as  by 
long,  rough  usage. 

"  Give  me  the  key,"  said  my  mother;  and  though  the 
lock  was  very  stiff,  she  had  turned  it  and  thrown  back 
the  lid  in  a  twinkling. 

A  strong  smell  of  tobacco  and  tar  rose  from  the  inte- 
rior, but  nothing  was  to  be  seen  on  the  top  except  a 
suit  of  very  good  clothes,  carefully  brushed  and  folded. 
They  had  never  been  worn,  my  mother  said.  Under 
that,  the  miscellany  began  —  a  quadrant,  a  tin  canikin, 
several  sticks  of  tobacco,  two  brace  of  very  handsome 
pistols,  a  piece  of  bar  silver,  an  old  Spanish  watch  and 
some  other  trinkets  of  little  value  and  mostly  of  foreign 
make,  a  pair  of  compasses  mounted  with  brass,  and  five 
or  six  curious  West  Indian  shells.  I  have  often  won- 
dered since  why  he  should  have  carried  about  these 
shells  with  him  in  his  wandering,  guilty,  and  hunted 
life. 

In  the  meantime,  we  had  found  nothing  of  any  value 
but  the  silver  and  the  trinkets,  and  neither  of  these  were 
in  our  way.  Underneath  there  was  an  old  boat-cloak, 
whitened  with  sea-salt  on  many  a  harbour-bar.  My 
mother  pulled  it  up  with  impatience,  and  there  lay  be- 
fore us,  the  last  things  in  the  chest,  a  bundle  tied  up  in 
oilcloth,  and  looking  like  papers,  and  a  canvas  bag,  that 
gave  forth,  at  a  touch,  the  jingle  of  gold. 

"  I'll  show  these  rogues  that  I'm  an  honest  woman," 
3« 


TREASURE   ISLAND 

said  my  mother.  "  I'll  have  my  dues,  and  not  a  farthing 
over.  Hold  Mrs.  Crossley's  bag."  And  she  began  to 
count  over  the  amount  of  the  captain's  score  from  the 
sailor's  bag  into  the  one  that  I  was  holding. 

It  was  a  long,  difficult  business,  for  the  coins  were  of 
all  countries  and  sizes  —  doubloons,  and  louis-d'ors,  and 
guineas,  and  pieces  of  eight,  and  I  know  not  what  be- 
sides, all  shaken  together  at  random.  The  guineas, 
too,  were  about  the  scarcest,  and  it  was  with  these  only 
that  my  mother  knew  how  to  make  her  count. 

When  we  were  about  half  way  through,  I  suddenly 
put  my  hand  upon  her  arm ;  for  I  had  heard  in  the  silent, 
frosty  air,  a  sound  that  brought  my  heart  into  my  mouth 
—  the  tap-tapping  of  the  blind  man's  stick  upon  the 
frozen  road.  It  drew  nearer  and  nearer,  while  we  sat 
holding  our  breath.  Then  it  struck  sharp  on  the  inn 
door,  and  then  we  could  hear  the  handle  being  turned, 
and  the  bolt  rattling  as  the  wretched  being  tried  to  en- 
ter; and  then  there  was  a  long  time  of  silence  both 
within  and  without.  At  last  the  tapping  re-commenced, 
and,  to  our  indescribable  joy  and  gratitude,  died  slowly 
away  again  until  it  ceased  to  be  heard. 

"Mother,"  said  I,  "take  the  whole  and  let's  be  go- 
ing;" for  I  was  sure  the  bolted  door  must  have  seemed 
suspicious,  and  would  bring  the  whole  hornet's  nest 
about  our  ears ;  though  how  thankful  I  was  that  I  had 
bolted  it,  none  could  tell  who  had  never  met  that  terrible 
blind  man. 

But  my  mother,  frightened  as  she  was,  would  not  con- 
sent to  take  a  fraction  more  than  was  due  to  her,  and 
was  obstinately  unwilling  to  be  content  with  less.  It 
was  not  yet  seven,  she  said,  by  a  long  way ;  she  knew 

32 


THE  SEA-CHEST 

her  rights  and  she  would  have  them ;  and  she  was  still 
arguing  with  me,  when  a  little  low  whistle  sounded  a 
good  way  off  upon  the  hill.  That  was  enough,  and 
more  than  enough,  for  both  of  us. 

"I'll  take  what  I  have,"  she  said,  jumping  to  her  feet. 

"And  I'll  take  this  to  square  the  count,"  said  I,  pick- 
ing up  the  oilskin  packet. 

Next  moment  we  were  both  groping  down-stairs, 
leaving  the  candle  by  the  empty  chest;  and  the  next  we 
had  opened  the  door  and  were  in  full  retreat.  We  had 
not  started  a  moment  too  soon.  The  fog  was  rapidly 
dispersing;  already  the  moon  shone  quite  clear  on  the 
high  ground  on  either  side ;  and  it  was  only  in  the  ex- 
act bottom  of  the  dell  and  round  the  tavern  door  that  a 
thin  veil  still  hung  unbroken  to  conceal  the  first  steps 
of  our  escape.  Far  less  than  half-way  to  the  hamlet, 
very  little  beyond  the  bottom  of  the  hill,  we  must  come 
forth  into  the  moonlight.  Nor  was  this  all;  for  the 
sound  of  several  footsteps  running  came  already  to  our 
ears,  and  as  we  looked  back  in  their  direction,  a  light 
tossing  to  and  fro  and  still  rapidly  advancing,  showed 
that  one  of  the  new-comers  carried  a  lantern. 

"My  dear,"  said  my  mother  suddenly,  "take  the 
money  and  run  on.     I  am  going  to  faint." 

This  was  certainly  the  end  for  both  of  us,  I  thought. 
How  I  cursed  the  cowardice  of  the  neighbours ;  how  I 
blamed  my  poor  mother  for  her  honesty  and  her  greed, 
for  her  past  foolhardiness  and  present  weakness !  We 
were  just  at  the  little  bridge,  by  good  fortune;  and  I 
helped  her,  tottering  as  she  was,  to  the  edge  of  the 
bank,  where,  sure  enough,  she  gave  a  sigh  and  fell  on 
my  shoulder.    I  do  not  know  how  I  found  the  strength 

33 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

to  do  it  at  all,  and  I  am  afraid  it  was  roughly  done;  but 
I  managed  to  drag  her  down  the  bank  and  a  little  way 
under  the  arch.  Farther  I  could  not  move  her,  for  the 
bridge  was  too  low  to  let  me  do  more  than  crawl  below 
it.  So  there  we  had  to  stay  —  my  mother  almost  entirely 
exposed,  and  both  of  us  within  earshot  of  the  inn. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  LAST  OF  THE  BLIND  MAN 

My  curiosity,  in  a  sense,  was  stronger  than  my  fear; 
for  I  could  not  remain  where  I  was,  but  crept  back  to 
the  bank  again,  whence,  sheltering  my  head  behind  a 
bush  of  broom,  I  might  command  the  road  before  our 
door.  I  was  scarcely  in  position  ere  my  enemies  began 
to  arrive,  seven  or  eight  of  them,  running  hard,  their 
feet  beating  out  of  time  along  the  road,  and  the  man 
with  the  lantern  some  paces  in  front.  Three  men  ran 
together,  hand  in  hand;  and  I  made  out,  even  through 
the  mist,  that  the  middle  man  of  this  trio  was  the  blind 
beggar.  The  next  moment  his  voice  showed  me  that 
I  was  right. 

"  Down  with  the  door! "  he  cried. 

"Ay,  ay,  sir!"  answered  two  or  three;  and  a  rush 
was  made  upon  the  "Admiral  Benbow,"  the  lantern- 
bearer  following;  and  then  I  could  see  them  pause,  and 
hear  speeches  passed  in  a  lower  key,  as  if  they  were 
surprised  to  find  the  door  open.  But  the  pause  was 
brief,  for  the  blind  man  again  issued  his  commands. 
His  voice  sounded  louder  and  higher,  as  if  he  were  afire 
with  eagerness  and  rage. 

"In,  in,  in!"  he  shouted,  and  cursed  them  for  their 
delay. 

35 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

Four  or  five  of  them  obeyed  at  once,  two  remaining 
on  the  road  with  the  formidable  beggar.  There  was  a 
pause,  then  a  cry  of  surprise,  and  then  a  voice  shouting 
from  the  house :  — 

"Bill's  dead." 

But  the  blind  man  swore  at  them  again  for  their  delay. 

"Search  him,  some  of  you  shirking  lubbers,  and  the 
rest  of  you  aloft  and  get  the  chest,"  he  cried. 

I  could  hear  their  feet  rattling  up  our  old  stairs,  so 
that  the  house  must  have  shook  with  it.  Promptly 
afterwards,  fresh  sounds  of  astonishment  arose;  the  win- 
dow of  the  captain's  room  was  thrown  open  with  a 
slam  and  a  jingle  of  broken  glass ;  and  a  man  leaned  out 
into  the  moonlight,  head  and  shoulders,  and  addressed 
the  blind  beggar  on  the  road  below  him. 

"Pew,"  he  cried,  "they've  been  before  us.  Some 
one's  turned  the  chest  out  alow  and  aloft." 

"  Is  it  there  ?  "  roared  Pew. 

"The  money's  there." 

The  blind  man  cursed  the  money. 

"Flint's  fist,  I  mean,"  he  cried. 

"We  don't  see  it  here  nohow,"  returned  the  man. 

"Here,  you  below  there,  is  it  on  Bill?"  cried  the 
blind  man  again. 

At  that,  another  fellow,  probably  he  who  had  remained 
below  to  search  the  captain's  body,  came  to  the  door 
of  the  inn.  "Bill's  been  overhauled  a'ready,"  said  he, 
"nothin'  left." 

"  It's  these  people  of  the  inn  —  it's  that  boy.  I  wish 
I  had  put  his  eyes  out ! "  cried  the  blind  man,  Pew. 
"They  were  here  no  time  ago  —  they  had  the  door 
bolted  when  I  tried  it.     Scatter,  lads,  and  find  'em." 

36 


THE   LAST  OF  THE   BLIND   MAN 

"Sure  enough,  they  left  their  glim  here," said  the  fel- 
low from  the  window. 

" Scatter  and  find  'em !  Rout  the  house  out! "  reiter- 
ated Pew,  striking  with  his  stick  upon  the  road. 

Then  there  followed  a  great  to-do  through  all  our  old 
inn,  heavy  feet  pounding  to  and  fro,  furniture  thrown 
over,  doors  kicked  in,  until  the  very  rocks  re-echoed, 
and  the  men  came  out  again,  one  after  another,  on  the 
road,  and  declared  that  we  were  nowhere  to  be  found. 
And  just  then  the  same  whistle  that  had  alarmed  my 
mother  and  myself  over  the  dead  captain's  money  was 
once  more  clearly  audible  through  the  night,  but  this 
time  twice  repeated.  I  had  thought  it  to  be  the  blind 
man's  trumpet,  so  to  speak,  summoning  his  crew  to  the 
assault ;  but  I  now  found  that  it  was  a  signal  from  the 
hillside  towards  the  hamlet,  and,  from  its  effect  upon 
the  buccaneers,  a  signal  to  warn  them  of  approaching 
danger. 

"There's  Dirk  again,"  said  one.  "Twice!  We'll 
have  to  budge,  mates." 

"  Budge,  you  skulk!  "  cried  Pew.  "  Dirk  was  a  fool 
and  a  coward  from  the  first  —  you  wouldn't  mind  him. 
They  must  be  close  by ;  they  can't  be  far;  you  have  your 
hands  on  it.  Scatter  and  look  for  them,  dogs!  Oh, 
shiver  my  soul,"  he  cried,  "  if  I  had  eyes!  " 

This  appeal  seemed  to  produce  some  effect,  for  two 
of  the  fellows  began  to  look  here  and  there  among  the 
lumber,  but  half-heartedly,  I  thought,  and  with  half  an 
eye  to  their  own  danger  all  the  time,  while  the  rest  stood 
irresolute  on  the  road. 

"You  have  your  hands  on  thousands,  you  fools,  and 
you  hang  a  leg!    You'd  be  as  rich  as  kings  if  you  could 

37 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

find  it,  and  you  know  it's  here,  and  you  stand  there 
skulking.  There  wasn't  one  of  you  dared  face  Bill,  and 
I  did  it — a  blind  man !  And  I'm  to  lose  my  chance  for  you ! 
I'm  to  be  a  poor,  crawling  beggar,  sponging  for  rum, 
when  I  might  be  rolling  in  a  coach !  If  you  had  the  pluck 
of  a  weevil  in  a  biscuit  you  would  catch  them  still." 

"  Hang  it,  Pew,  we've  got  the  doubloons ! "  grumbled 
one. 

"They  might  have  hid  the  blessed  thing,"  said  an- 
other. "Take  the  Georges,  Pew,  and  don't  stand  here 
squalling." 

Squalling  was  the  word  for  it,  Pew's  anger  rose  so 
high  at  these  objections;  till  at  last,  his  passion  com- 
pletely taking  the  upper  hand,  he  struck  at  them  right 
and  left  in  his  blindness,  and  his  stick  sounded  heavily 
on  more  than  one. 

These,  in  their  turn,  cursed  back  at  the  blind  mis- 
creant, threatened  him  in  horrid  terms,  and  tried  in  vain 
to  catch  the  stick  and  wrest  it  from  his  grasp. 

This  quarrel  was  the  saving  of  us ;  for  while  it  was 
still  raging,  another  sound  came  from  the  top  of  the  hill 
on  the  side  of  the  hamlet — the  tramp  of  horses  gallop- 
ing. Almost  at  the  same  time  a  pistol-shot,  flash  and 
report,  came  from  the  hedge  side.  And  that  was  plainly 
the  last  signal  of  danger;  for  the  buccaneers  turned  at 
once  and  ran,  separating  in  every  direction,  one  seaward 
along  the  cove,  one  slant  across  the  hill,  and  so  on,  so 
that  in  half  a  minute  not  a  sign  of  them  remained  but 
Pew.  Him  they  had  deserted,  whether  in  sheer  panic 
or  out  of  revenge  for  his  ill  words  and  blows,  I  know 
not;  but  there  he  remained  behind,  tapping  up  and  down 
the  road  in  a  frenzy,  and  groping  and  calling  for  his 

38 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  BLIND  MAN 

comrades.  Finally  he  took  the  wrong  turn,  and  ran  a 
few  steps  past  me,  towards  the  hamlet,  crying: — 

"Johnny,  Black  Dog,  Dirk,"  and  other  names,  "you 
won't  leave  old  Pew,  mates  —  not  old  Pew ! " 

Just  then  the  noise  of  horses  topped  the  rise,  and  four 
or  five  riders  came  in  sight  in  the  moonlight,  and  swept 
at  full  gallop  down  the  slope. 

At  this  Pew  saw  his  error,  turned  with  a  scream,  and 
ran  straight  for  the  ditch,  into  which  he  rolled.  But  he 
was  on  his  feet  again  in  a  second,  and  made  another 
dash,  now  utterly  bewildered,  right  under  the  nearest 
of  the  coming  horses. 

The  rider  tried  to  save  him,  but  in  vain.  Down  went 
Pew  with  a  cry  that  rang  high  into  the  night;  and  the 
four  hoofs  trampled  and  spurned  him  and  passed  by. 
He  fell  on  his  side,  then  gently  collapsed  upon  his  face, 
and  moved  no  more. 

I  leaped  to  my  feet  and  hailed  the  riders.  They  were 
pulling  up,  at  any  rate,  horrified  at  the  accident;  and  I 
soon  saw  what  they  were.  One,  tailing  out  behind  the 
rest,  was  a  lad  that  had  gone  from  the  hamlet  to  Dr. 
Livesey's ;  the  rest  were  revenue  officers,  whom  he  had 
met  by  the  way,  and  with  whom  he  had  had  the  intel- 
ligence to  return  at  once.  Some  news  of  the  lugger  in 
Kitf  s  Hole  had  found  its  way  to  Supervisor  Dance,  and 
set  him  forth  that  night  in  our  direction,  and  to  that  cir- 
cumstance my  mother  and  I  owed  our  preservation  from 
death. 

Pew  was  dead,  stone  dead.  As  for  my  mother,  when 
we  had  carried  her  up  to  the  hamlet,  a  little  cold  water 
and  salts  and  that  soon  brought  her  back  again,  and  she 
was  none  the  worse  for  her  terror,  though  she  still  con* 

39 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

tinued  to  deplore  the  balance  of  the  money.  In  the  mean- 
time the  supervisor  rode  on,  as  fast  as  he  could,  to  Kitt's 
Hole;  but  his  men  had  to  dismount  and  grope  down  the 
dingle,  leading,  and  sometimes  supporting,  their  horses, 
and  in  continual  fear  of  ambushes ;  so  it  was  no  great 
matter  for  surprise  that  when  they  got  down  to  the  Hole 
the  lugger  was  already  under  way,  though  still  close  in. 
He  hailed  her.  A  voice  replied,  telling  him  to  keep  out 
of  the  moonlight,  or  he  would  get  some  lead  in  him,  and 
at  the  same  time  a  bullet  whistled  close  by  his  arm. 
Soon  after,  the  lugger  doubled  the  point  and  disap- 
peared. Mr.  Dance  stood  there,  as  he  said,  "like  a  fish 
out  of  water,"  and  all  he  could  do  was  to  despatch  a  man 

to  B to  warn  the  cutter.     "And  that,"  said  he,  "is 

just  about  as  good  as  nothing.  They've  got  off  clean, 
and  there's  an  end.  Only,"  he  added,  "  I'm  glad  I  trod 
on  Master  Pew's  corns; "  for  by  this  time  he  had  heard 
my  story. 

I  went  back  with  him  to  the  "Admiral  Benbow,"  and 
you  cannot  imagine  a  house  in  such  a  state  of  smash ; 
the  very  clock  had  been  thrown  down  by  these  fellows 
in  their  furious  hunt  after  my  mother  and  myself;  and 
though  nothing  had  actually  been  taken  away  except  the 
captain's  money-bag  and  a  little  silver  from  the  till,  I 
could  see  at  once  that  we  were  ruined.  Mr.  Dance 
could  make  nothing  of  the  scene. 

"They  got  the  money,  you  say  ?  Well,  then,  Haw- 
kins, what  in  fortune  were  they  after  ?  More  money,  I 
suppose?" 

"  No,  sir;  not  money,  I  think,"  replied  I.  "In  fact, 
sir,  I  believe  I  have  the  thing  in  my  breast-pocket ;  and, 
to  tell  you  the  truth,  I  should  like  to  get  it  put  in  safety." 

40 


THE   LAST  OF  THE   BLIND   MAN 

" To  be  sure,  boy;  quite  right,"  said  he.  "  I'll  take 
it,  if  you  like." 

"I  thought,  perhaps,  Dr.  Livesey "  I  began. 

"  Perfectly  right,"  he  interrupted,  very  cheerily,  "per- 
fectly right  —  a  gentleman  and  a  magistrate.  And,  now 
I  come  to  think  of  it,  I  might  as  well  ride  round  there 
myself  and  report  to  him  or  squire.  Master  Pew's  dead, 
when  all's  done;  not  that  I  regret  it,  but  he's  dead, 
you  see,  and  people  will  make  it  out  against  an  officer 
of  his  Majesty's  revenue,  if  make  it  out  they  can.  Now, 
I'll  tell  you,  Hawkins:  if  you  like,  I'll  take  you  along." 

I  thanked  him  heartily  for  the  offer,  and  we  walked 
back  to  the  hamlet  where  the  horses  were.  By  the  time 
I  had  told  mother  of  my  purpose  they  were  all  in  the 
saddle. 

"Dogger,"  said  Mr.  Dance,  "you  have  a  good  horse; 
take  up  this  lad  behind  you." 

As  soon  as  I  was  mounted,  holding  on  to  Dogger's 
belt,  the  supervisor  gave  the  word,  and  the  party  struck 
out  at  a  bouncing  trot  on  the  road  to  Dr.  Livesey's 
house. 


41 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE   CAPTAIN'S  PAPERS 

We  rode  hard  all  the  way,  till  we  drew  up  before 
Dr.  Livesey's  door.  The  house  was  all  dark  to  the 
front. 

Mr.  Dance  told  me  to  jump  down  and  knock,  and 
Dogger  gave  me  a  stirrup  to  descend  by.  The  door 
was  opened  almost  at  once  by  the  maid. 

"  Is  Dr.  Livesey  in  ?"  I  asked. 

No,  she  said;  he  had  come  home  in  the  afternoon, 
but  had  gone  up  to  the  Hall  to  dine  and  pass  the  even- 
ing with  the  squire. 

"  So  there  we  go,  boys,"  said  Mr.  Dance. 

This  time,  as  the  distance  was  short,  I  did  not  mount, 
but  ran  with  Dogger's  stirrup-leather  to  the  lodge  gates, 
and  up  the  long,  leafless,  moonlit  avenue  to  where  the 
white  line  of  the  Hall  buildings  looked  on  either  hand 
on  great  old  gardens.  Here  Mr.  Dance  dismounted, 
and,  taking  me  along  with  him,  was  admitted  at  a  word 
into  the  house. 

The  servant  led  us  down  a  matted  passage,  and  showed 
us  at  the  end  into  a  great  library,  all  lined  with  book- 
cases and  busts  upon  the  top  of  them,  where  the  squire 
and  Dr.  Livesey  sat,  pipe  in  hand,  on  either  side  of  a 
bright  fire. 

4* 


THE  CAPTAIN'S   PAPERS 

I  had  never  seen  the  squire  so  near  at  hand.  He  was 
a  tall  man,  over  six  feet  high,  and  broad  in  proportion, 
and  he  had  a  bluff,  rough-and-ready  face,  all  roughened 
and  reddened  and  lined  in  his  long  travels.  His  eye- 
brows were  very  black,  and  moved  readily,  and  this 
gave  him  a  look  of  some  temper,  not  bad,  you  would 
say,  but  quick  and  high. 

"Come  in,  Mr.  Dance,"  says  he,  very  stately  and  con- 
descending. 

"  Good  evening,  Dance,"  says  the  doctor,  with  a  nod. 
"And  good  evening  to  you,  friend  Jim.  What  good 
wind  brings  you  here  ?  " 

The  supervisor  stood  up  straight  and  stiff,  and  told 
his  story  like  a  lesson ;  and  you  should  have  seen  how 
the  two  gentlemen  leaned  forward  and  looked  at  each 
other,  and  forgot  to  smoke  in  their  surprise  and  interest. 
When  they  heard  how  my  mother  went  back  to  the 
inn,  Dr.  Livesey  fairly  slapped  his  thigh,  and  the  squire 
cried  "Bravo!"  and  broke  his  long  pipe  against  the 
grate.  Long  before  it  was  done,  Mr.  Trelawney  (that, 
you  will  remember,  was  the  squire's  name)  had  got  up 
from  his  seat,  and  was  striding  about  the  room,  and  the 
doctor,  as  if  to  hear  the  better,  had  taken  off  his  pow- 
dered wig,  and  sat  there,  looking  very  strange  indeed 
with  his  own  close-cropped,  black  poll. 

At  last  Mr.  Dance  finished  the  story. 

" Mr.  Dance,"  said  the  squire,  "you  are  a  very  noble 
fellow.  And  as  for  riding  down  that  black,  atrocious 
miscreant,  I  regard  it  as  an  act  of  virtue,  sir,  like  stamp- 
ing on  a  cockroach.  This  lad  Hawkins  is  a  trump,  I 
perceive.  Hawkins,  will  you  ring  that  bell  ?  Mr.  Dance 
must  have  some  ale." 

43 


TREASURE   ISLAND 

"And  so,  Jim,"  said  the  doctor,  "you  have  the  thing 
that  they  were  after,  have  you  ?  " 

' '  Here  it  is,  sir, "  said  I,  and  gave  him  the  oilskin  packet. 

The  doctor  looked  it  all  over,  as  if  his  fingers  were 
itching  to  open  it;  but,  instead  of  doing  that,  he  put  it 
quietly  in  the  pocket  of  his  coat. 

"Squire,"  said  he,  "when  Dance  has  had  his  ale  he 
must,  of  course,  be  off  on  his  Majesty's  service ;  but  I 
mean  to  keep  Jim  Hawkins  here  to  sleep  at  my  house, 
and,  with  your  permission,  I  propose  we  should  have  up 
the  cold  pie,  and  let  him  sup." 

"As  you  will,  Livesey,"  said  the  squire;  " Hawkins 
has  earned  better  than  cold  pie." 

So  a  big  pigeon  pie  was  brought  in  and  put  on  a  side- 
table,  and  I  made  a  hearty  supper,  for  I  was  as  hungry 
as  a  hawk,  while  Mr.  Dance  was  further  complimented, 
and  at  last  dismissed. 

"And  now,  squire,"  said  the  doctor. 

"And  now,  Livesey,"  said  the  squire  in  the  same 
breath. 

"  One  at  a  time,  one  at  a  time,"  laughed  Dr.  Livesey. 
"  You  have  heard  of  this  Flint,  I  suppose  ?  " 

"  Heard  of  him !  "  cried  the  squire.  "  Heard  of  him, 
you  say !  He  was  the  bloodthirstiest  buccaneer  that 
sailed.  Blackbeard  was  a  child  to  Flint.  The  Spaniards 
were  so  prodigiously  afraid  of  him,  that,  I  tell  you,  sir, 
I  was  sometimes  proud  he  was  an  Englishman.  I've 
seen  his  top-sails  with  these  eyes,  off  Trinidad,  and  the 
cowardly  son  of  a  rum-puncheon  that  I  sailed  with  put 
back  —  put  back,  sir,  into  Port  of  Spain." 

"Well,  I've  heard  of  him  myself,  in  England,"  said 
the  doctor.     "  But  the  point  is,  had  he  money  ?  " 

44 


THE  CAPTAIN'S  PAPERS 

" Money!"  cried  the  squire.  "Have  you  heard  the 
story  ?  What  were  these  villains  after  but  money  ? 
What  do  they  care  for  but  money  ?  For  what  would 
they  risk  their  rascal  carcasses  but  money  ?  " 

"That  we  shall  soon  know,"  replied  the  doctor. 
"  But  you  are  so  confoundedly  hot-headed  and  exclama- 
tory that  I  cannot  get  a  word  in.  What  I  want  to  know 
is  this  :  Supposing  that  I  have  here  in  my  pocket  some 
clue  to  where  Flint  buried  his  treasure,  will  that  treasure 
amount  to  much  ?  " 

"  Amount,  sir!  "  cried  the  squire.  "  It  will  amount 
to  this :  if  we  have  the  clue  you  talk  about,  I  fit  out  a  ship 
in  Bristol  dock,  and  take  you  and  Hawkins  here  along, 
and  I'll  have  that  treasure  if  I  search  a  year." 

"Very  well,"  said  the  doctor.  "Now,  then,  if  Jim 
is  agreeable,  we'll  open  the  packet; "  and  he  laid  it  be- 
fore him  on  the  table. 

The  bundle  was  sewn  together,  and  the  doctor  had  to 
get  out  his  instrument-case,  and  cut  the  stitches  with 
his  medical  scissors.  It  contained  two  things  —  a  book 
and  a  sealed  paper. 

"  First  of  all  we'll  try  the  book,"  observed  the  doctor. 

The  squire  and  I  were  both  peering  over  his  shoulder 
as  he  opened  it,  for  Dr.  Livesey  had  kindly  motioned  me 
to  come  round  from  the  side-table,  where  I  had  been 
eating,  to  enjoy  the  sport  of  the  search.  On  the  first 
page  there  were  only  some  scraps  of  writing,  such  as  a 
man  with  a  pen  in  his  hand  might  make  for  idleness  or 
practice.  One  was  the  same  as  the  tattoo  mark,  "Billy 
Bones  his  fancy;"  then  there  was  "Mr.  W.  Bones, 
mate."  "No  more  rum."  "  Off  Palm  Key  he  got  itt;  " 
and  some  other  snatches,  mostly  single  words  and  un- 

45 


TREASURE   ISLAND 

intelligible.  I  could  not  help  wondering  who  it  was 
that  had  "got  itt,"  and  what  "itt"  was  that  he  got. 
A  knife  in  his  back  as  like  as  not. 

"Not  much  instruction  there,"  said  Dr.  Livesey,  as 
he  passed  on. 

The  next  ten  or  twelve  pages  were  filled  with  a  curi- 
ous series  of  entries.  There  was  a  date  at  one  end  of 
the  line  and  at  the  other  a  sum  of  money,  as  in  common 
account-books ;  but  instead  of  explanatory  writing,  only 
a  varying  number  of  crosses  between  the  two.  On  the 
1 2th  of  June,  1745,  for  instance,  a  sum  of  seventy  pounds 
had  plainly  become  due  to  some  one,  and  there  was 
nothing  but  six  crosses  to  explain  the  cause.  In  a  few 
cases,  to  be  sure,  the  name  of  a  place  would  be  added, 
as  "Offe  Caraccas;"  or  a  mere  entry  of  latitude  and 
longitude,  as  "620  17'  20",  190  2'  40".'' 

The  record  lasted  over  nearly  twenty  years,  the  amount 
of  the  separate  entries  growing  larger  as  time  went  on, 
and  at  the  end  a  grand  total  had  been  made  out  after 
five  or  six  wrong  additions,  and  these  words  appended, 
"Bones,  his  pile." 

"  I  can't  make  head  or  tail  of  this,"  said  Dr.  Livesey. 

"The  thing  is  as  clear  as  noonday,"  cried  the  squire. 
"This  is  the  black-hearted  hound's  account-book. 
These  crosses  stand  for  the  names  of  ships  or  towns 
that  they  sank  or  plundered.  The  sums  are  the  scoun- 
drel's share,  and  where  he  feared  an  ambiguity,  you  see 
he  added  something  clearer.  '  Offe  Caraccas, '  now ;  you 
see,  here  was  some  unhappy  vessel  boarded  off  that 
coast.  God  help  the  poor  souls  that  manned  her — 
coral  long  ago." 

"  Right!  "  said  the  doctor.     "See  what  it  is  to  be  a 
46 


THE  CAPTAIN'S  PAPERS 

traveller.  Right !  And  the  amounts  increase,  you  see, 
as  he  rose  in  rank." 

There  was  little  else  in  the  volume  but  a  few  bearings 
of  places  noted  in  the  blank  leaves  towards  the  end, 
and  a  table  for  reducing  French,  English,  and  Spanish 
moneys  to  a  common  value. 

"Thrifty  man!"  cried  the  doctor.  "He  wasn't  the 
one  to  be  cheated." 

"And  now,"  said  the  squire,  "for  the  other." 

The  paper  had  been  sealed  in  several  places  with  a 
thimble  by  way  of  seal ;  the  very  thimble,  perhaps,  that  I 
had  found  in  the  captain's  pocket.  The  doctor  opened 
the  seals  with  great  care,  and  there  fell  out  the  map  of 
an  island,  with  latitude  and  longitude,  soundings,  names 
of  hills,  and  bays  and  inlets,  and  every  particular  that 
would  be  needed  to  bring  a  ship  to  a  safe  anchorage 
upon  its  shores.  It  was  about  nine  miles  long  and  five 
across,  shaped,  you  might  say,  like  a  fat  dragon  standing 
up,  and  had  two  fine  land-locked  harbours,  and  a  hill  in 
the  centre  part  marked  "  The  Spy-glass. "  There  were 
several  additions  of  a  later  date ;  but,  above  all,  three 
crosses  of  red  ink  —  two  on  the  north  part  of  the  island, 
one  in  the  south-west,  and,  beside  this  last,  in  the  same 
red  ink,  and  in  a  small,  neat  hand,  very  different  from 
the  captain's  tottery  characters,  these  words: — "Bulk 
of  treasure  here." 

Over  on  the  back  the  same  hand  had  written  this 
further  information:  — 

"Tall  tree,  Spy-glass  shoulder,  bearing  a  point  to  the  N.  of  N.N.E. 
"Skeleton  Island  E.S.E.  and  by  E. 
"Ten  feet. 

"The  bar  silver  is  in  the  north  cache ;  you  can  find  it  by  the  trend 
47 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

of  the  east  hummock,  ten  fathoms  south  of  the  black  crag  with  the  face 
on  it. 

"The  arms  are  easy  found,  in  the  sand  hill,  N.  point  of  north  inlet 
cape,  bearing  E.  and  a  quarter  N.  "J.  F." 

That  was  all ;  but  brief  as  it  was,  and,  to  me,  incom- 
prehensible, it  filled  the  squire  and  Dr.  Livesey  with 
delight. 

"Livesey,"  said  the  squire,  "you  will  give  up  this 
wretched  practice  at  once.  To-morrow  I  start  for  Bristol. 
In  three  weeks'  time  —  three  weeks!  —  two  weeks  — 
ten  days  —  we'll  have  the  best  ship,  sir,  and  the  choicest 
crew  in  England.  Hawkins  shall  come  as  cabin-boy. 
You'll  make  a  famous  cabin-boy,  Hawkins.  You,  Live- 
sey, are  ship's  doctor;  I  am  admiral.  We'll  take  Red- 
ruth, Joyce,  and  Hunter.  We'll  have  favourable  winds, 
a  quick  passage,  and  not  the  least  difficulty  in  finding 
the  spot,  and  money  to  eat  —  to  roll  in  —  to  play  duck 
and  drake  with  ever  after." 

" Trelawney,"  said  the  doctor,  "I'll  go  with  you;  and 
I'll  go  bail  for  it,  so  will  Jim,  and  be  a  credit  to  the 
undertaking.    There's  only  one  man  I'm  afraid  of." 

"And  who's  that?"  cried  the  squire.  "Name  the 
dog,  sir!" 

"You,"  replied  the  doctor;  "for  you  cannot  hold 
your  tongue.  We  are  not  the  only  men  who  know 
of  this  paper.  These  fellows  who  attacked  the  inn 
to-night  —  bold,  desperate  blades,  for  sure  —  and  the 
rest  who  stayed  aboard  that  lugger,  and  more,  I  dare 
say,  not  far  off,  are,  one  and  all,  through  thick  and  thin, 
bound  that  they'll  get  that  money.  We  must  none 
of  us  go  alone  till  we  get  to  sea.  Jim  and  I  shall 
stick  together  in  the  meanwhile:    you'll  take  Joyce 

43 


THE  CAPTAIN'S  PAPERS 

and  Hunter  when  you  ride  to  Bristol,  and,  from  first  to* 
last,  not  one  of  us  must  breathe  a  word  of  what  we've 
found." 

"Livesey,"  returned  the  squire,  "you  are  always  in 
the  right  of  it.     I'll  be  as  silent  as  the  grave." 


49 


PART  II 
THE  SEA  COOK 


CHAPTER  VII 

I  GO  TO  BRISTOL 

IT  was  longer  than  the  squire  imagined  ere  we  were 
ready  for  the  sea,  and  none  of  our  first  plans  —  not 
even  Dr.  Livesey's,  of  keeping  me  beside  him  —  could 
be  carried  out  as  we  intended.  The  doctor  had  to  go  to 
London  for  a  physician  to  take  charge  of  his  practice; 
the  squire  was  hard  at  work  at  Bristol ;  and  I  lived  on  at 
the  Hall  under  the  charge  of  old  Redruth,  the  game- 
keeper, almost  a  prisoner,  but  full  of  sea-dreams  and  the 
most  charming  anticipations  of  strange  islands  and  ad- 
ventures. I  brooded  by  the  hour  together  over  the  map, 
all  the  details  of  which  I  well  remembered.  Sitting  by 
the  fire  in  the  housekeeper's  room,  I  approached  that  isl- 
and in  my  fancy,  from  every  possible  direction ;  I  ex- 
plored every  acre  of  its  surface ;  I  climbed  a  thousand 
times  to  that  tall  hill  they  call  the  Spy-glass,  and  from 
the  top  enjoyed  the  most  wonderful  and  changing  pros- 
pects. Sometimes  the  isle  was  thick  with  savages,  with 
whom  we  fought;  sometimes  full  of  dangerous  animals 
that  hunted  us;  but  in  all  my  fancies  nothing  occurred 
to  me  so  strange  and  tragic  as  our  actual  adventures. 

So  the  weeks  passed  on,  till  one  fine  day  there  came 
a  letter  addressed  to  Dr.  Livesey,  with  this  addition, 
"To  be  opened,  in  the  case  of  his  absence,  by  Tom  Red- 

51 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

ruth,  or  young  Hawkins."  Obeying  this  order,  we 
found,  or  rather,  I  found  —  for  the  gamekeeper  was  a 
poor  hand  at  reading  anything  but  print — the  following 
important  news: — 

"  Old  Anchor  Inn,  Bristol,  March  /,  ty — . 

"Dear  Livesey, — As  I  do  not  know  whether  you  are  at  the  Hall  or 
still  in  London,  1  send  this  in  double  to  both  places. 

M  The  ship  is  bought  and  fitted.  She  lies  at  anchor,  ready  for  sea. 
You  never  imagined  a  sweeter  schooner — a  child  might  sail  her  —  two 
hundred  tons;  name,  Hi&paniola. 

"  1  got  her  through  my  old  friend,  Blandly,  who  has  proved  himself 
throughout  the  most  surprising  trump.  The  admirable  fellow  literally 
slaved  in  my  interest,  and  so,  I  may  say,  did  every  one  in  Bristol,  as 
soon  as  they  got  wind  of  the  port  we  sailed  for  —  treasure,  I  mean." 

"Redruth,"  said  I,  interrupting  the  letter,  "Doctor 
Livesey  will  not  like  that  The  squire  has  been  talking, 
after  all." 

"Well,  who's  a  better  right?"  growled  the  game- 
keeper. "A  pretty  rum  go  if  squire  ain't  to  talk  for 
Doctor  Livesey,  I  should  think." 

At  that  i  gave  up  all  attempt  at  commentary,  and  read 
straight  on: — 

"  Blandly  himself  found  the  Hispaniola,  and  by  the  most  admirable 
management  got  her  for  the  merest  trifle.  There  is  a  class  of  men  in 
Bristol  monstrously  prejudiced  against  Blandly.  They  go  the  length 
of  declaring  that  this  honest  creature  would  do  anything  for  money, 
that  the  Hispaniola  belonged  to  him,  and  that  he  sold  it  me  absurdly 
high  —  the  most  transparent  calumnies.  None  of  them  dare,  however, 
to  deny  the  merits  of  the  ship. 

11  So  far  there  was  not  a  hitch.  The  workpeople,  to  be  sure  —  rig- 
gers and  what  not  —  were  most  annoyingly  slow;  but  time  cured  that. 
It  was  the  crew  that  troubled  me. 

"  1  wished  a  round  score  of  men  —  in  case  of  natives,  buccaneers,  or 
the  odious  French  —  and  I  had  the  worry  of  the  deuce  itself  to  find  so 

54 


I  GO  TO  BRISTOL 

much  as  half  a  dozen,  till  the  most  remarkable  stroke  of  fortune  brought 
me  the  very  man  that  I  required. 

"  I  was  standing  on  the  dock,  when,  by  the  merest  accident,  I  fell  in 
talk  with  him.  I  found  he  was  an  old  sailor,  kept  a  public-house, 
knew  all  the  seafaring  men  in  Bristol,  had  lost  his  health  ashore,  and 
wanted  a  good  berth  as  cook  to  get  to  sea  again.  He  had  hobbled 
down  there  that  morning,  he  said,  to  get  a  smell  of  the  salt. 

"I  was  monstrously  touched  —  so  would  you  have  been  —  and,  out 
of  pure  pity,  1  engaged  him  on  the  spot  to  be  ship's  cook.  Long  John 
Silver,  he  is  called,  and  has  lost  a  leg;  but  that  1  regarded  as  a  recom- 
mendation, since  he  lost  it  in  his  country's  service,  under  the  immortal 
Hawke.  He  has  no  pension,  Livesey.  Imagine  the  abominable  age 
we  live  in! 

"  Well,  sir,  I  thought  I  had  only  found  a  cook,  but  it  was  a  crew  I 
had  discovered.  Between  Silver  and  myself  we  got  together  in  a  few 
days  a  company  of  the  toughest  old  salts  imaginable  —  not  pretty  to 
look  at,  but  fellows,  by  their  faces,  of  the  most  indomitable  spirit.  I 
declare  we  could  fight  a  frigate. 

u  Long  John  even  got  rid  of  two  out  of  the  six  or  seven  I  had  al- 
ready engaged.  He  showed  me  in  a  moment  that  they  were  just  the 
sort  of  fresh-water  swabs  we  had  to  fear  in  an  adventure  of  impor- 
tance. 

"  1  am  in  the  most  magnificent  health  and  spirits,  eating  like  a  bull, 
sleeping  like  a  tree,  yet  I  shall  not  enjoy  a  moment  till  I  hear  my  old 
tarpaulins  tramping  round  the  capstan.  Seaward  ho!  Hang  the  trea- 
sure! It's  the  glory  of  the  sea  that  has  turned  my  head.  So  now, 
Livesey,  come  post;  do  not  lose  an  hour,  if  you  respect  me. 

"Let  young  Hawkins  go  at  once  to  see  his  mother,  with  Redruth  for 
a  guard ;  and  then  both  come  full  speed  to  Bristol. 

"John  Trelawney. 

"  Postscript. —  I  did  not  tell  you  that  Blandly,  who,  by  the  way,  is 
to  send  a  consort  after  us  if  we  don't  turn  up  by  the  end  of  August,  had 
found  an  admirable  fellow  for  sailing-master  —  a  stiff  man,  which  I  re- 
gret, but,  in  all  other  respects,  a  treasure.  Long  John  Silver  unearthed 
a  very  competent  man  for  a  mate,  a  man  named  Arrow.  I  have  a  boat- 
swain who  pipes,  Livesey;  so  things  shall  go  man-o'-war  fashion  on 
board  the  good  ship  Hispaniola. 

55 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

"I  forgot  to  tell  you  that  Silver  is  a  man  of  substance;  I  know  of 
my  own  knowledge  that  he  has  a  banker's  account,  which  has  never 
been  overdrawn.  He  leaves  his  wife  to  manage  the  inn;  and  as  she  is 
a  woman  of  colour,  a  pair  of  old  bachelors  like  you  and  I  maybe  excused 
for  guessing  that  it  is  the  wife,  quite  as  much  as  the  health,  that  sends 
him  back  to  roving.  "J.  T. 

"  P.  P.  S. —  Hawkins  may  stay  one  night  with  his  mother. 

"J.  T.» 

You  can  fancy  the  excitement  into  which  that  letter 
put  me.  I  was  half  beside  myself  with  glee;  and  if  ever 
I  despised  a  man,  it  was  old  Tom  Redruth,  who  could 
do  nothing  but  grumble  and  lament.  Any  of  the  under- 
gamekeepers  would  gladly  have  changed  places  with 
him ;  but  such  was  not  the  squire's  pleasure,  and  the 
squire's  pleasure  was  like  law  among  them  all.  Nobody 
but  old  Redruth  would  have  dared  so  much  as  even  to 
grumble. 

The  next  morning  he  and  I  set  out  on  foot  for  the 
"Admiral  Benbow,"  and  there  I  found  my  mother  in 
good  health  and  spirits.  The  captain,  who  had  so  long 
been  a  cause  of  so  much  discomfort,  was  gone  where 
the  wicked  cease  from  troubling.  The  squire  had  had 
everything  repaired,  and  the  public  rooms  and  the  sign 
repainted,  and  had  added  some  furniture  —  above  all  a 
beautiful  arm-chair  for  mother  in  the  bar.  He  had  found 
her  a  boy  as  an  apprentice  also,  so  that  she  should  not 
want  help  while  I  was  gone. 

It  was  on  seeing  that  boy  that  I  understood,  for  the 
first  time,  my  situation.  I  had  thought  up  to  that  mo- 
ment of  the  adventures  before  me,  not  at  all  of  the  home 
that  I  was  leaving;  and  now,  at  sight  of  this  clumsy 
stranger,  who  was  to  stay  here  in  my  place  beside  my 

56 


1  GO  TO  BRISTOL 

mother,  I  had  my  first  attack  of  tears.  I  am  afraid  I  led 
that  boy  a  dog's  life ;  for  as  he  was  new  to  the  work,  I 
had  a  hundred  opportunities  of  setting  him  right  and 
putting  him  down,  and  I  was  not  slow  to  profit  by 
them. 

The  night  passed,  and  the  next  day,  after  dinner,  Red- 
ruth and  I  were  afoot  again,  and  on  the  road.  I  said 
good-bye  to  mother  and  the  cove  where  I  had  lived  since 
I  was  born,  and  the  dear  old  "Admiral  Benbow" — since 
he  was  repainted,  no  longer  quite  so  dear.  One  of  my 
last  thoughts  was  of  the  captain,  who  had  so  often  strode 
along  the  beach  with  his  cocked  hat,  his  sabre-cut  cheek, 
and  his  old  brass  telescope.  Next  moment  we  had 
turned  the  corner,  and  my  home  was  out  of  sight. 

The  mail  picked  us  up  about  dusk  at  the  "Royal 
George  "  on  the  heath.  I  was  wedged  in  between  Red- 
ruth and  a  stout  old  gentleman,  and  in  spite  of  the  swift 
motion  and  the  cold  night  air,  I  must  have  dozed  a  great 
deal  from  the  very  first,  and  then  slept  like  a  log  up  hill 
and  down  dale  through  stage  after  stage ;  for  when  I  was 
awakened,  at  last,  it  was  by  a  punch  in  the  ribs,  and  I 
opened  my  eyes,  to  find  that  we  were  standing  still  be- 
fore a  large  building  in  a  city  street,  and  that  the  day  had 
already  broken  a  long  time. 

"Where  are  we?"  I  asked. 

"Bristol,"  said  Tom.    "Get  down." 

Mr.  Trelawney  had  taken  up  his  residence  at  an  inn 
far  down  the  docks,  to  superintend  the  work  upon  the 
schooner.  Thither  we  had  now  to  walk,  and  our  way, 
to  my  great  delight,  lay  along  the  quays  and  beside  the 
great  multitude  of  ships  of  all  sizes  and  rigs  and  nations. 
In  one,  sailors  were  singing  at  their  work ;  in  another, 

57 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

there  were  men  aloft,  high  over  my  head,  hanging  to 
threads  that  seemed  no  thicker  than  a  spider's.  Though 
I  had  lived  by  the  shore  all  my  life,  I  seemed  never  to 
have  been  near  the  sea  till  then.  The  smell  of  tar  and 
salt  was  something  new.  I  saw  the  most  wonderful 
figureheads,  that  had  all  been  far  over  the  ocean.  I  saw, 
besides,  many  old  sailors,  with  rings  in  their  ears,  and 
whiskers  curled  in  ringlets,  and  tarry  pigtails,  and  their 
swaggering,  clumsy  sea-walk;  and  if  I  had  seen  as 
many  kings  or  archbishops  I  could  not  have  been  more 
delighted. 

And  I  was  going  to  sea  myself;  to  sea  in  a  schooner, 
with  a  piping  boatswain,  and  pig-tailed  singing  seamen ; 
to  sea,  bound  for  an  unknown  island,  and  to  seek  for 
buried  treasures! 

While  I  was  still  in  this  delightful  dream,  we  came 
suddenly  in  front  of  a  large  inn,  and  met  Squire  Trelaw- 
ney,  all  dressed  out  like  a  sea-officer,  in  stout  blue  cloth, 
coming  out  of  the  door  with  a  smile  on  his  face,  and  a 
capital  imitation  of  a  sailor's  walk. 

"Here  you  are,"  he  cried,  "and  the  doctor  came  last 
night  from  London.  Bravo !  the  ship's  company  com- 
plete!" 

"  Oh,  sir,"  cried  I,  "when  do  we  sail  ?" 

1 '  Sail ! "  says  he.    ' '  We  sail  to-morrow ! " 


58 


CHAPTER  VIII 

AT  THE  SIGN  OF  THE    "SPY 

When  I  had  done  breakfasting  the  squire  gave  me  a 
note  addressed  to  John  Silver,  at  the  sign  of  the  "Spy- 
glass, "  and  told  me  I  should  easily  find  the  place  by 
following  the  line  of  the  docks,  and  keeping  a  bright 
look-out  for  a  little  tavern  with  a  large  brass  telescope 
for  sign.  I  set  off,  overjoyed  at  this  opportunity,  to  see 
some  more  of  the  ships  and  seamen,  and  picked  my 
way  among  a  great  crowd  of  people  and  carts  and  bales, 
for  the  dock  was  now  at  its  busiest,  until  I  found  the 
tavern  in  question. 

It  was  a  bright  enough  little  place  of  entertainment. 
The  sign  was  newly  painted ;  the  windows  had  neat  red 
curtains ;  the  floor  was  cleanly  sanded.  There  was  a 
street  on  each  side,  and  an  open  door  on  both,  which 
made  the  large,  low  room  pretty  clear  to  see  in,  in  spite 
of  clouds  of  tobacco  smoke. 

The  customers  were  mostly  seafaring  men ;  and  they 
talked  so  loudly  that  I  hung  at  the  door,  almost  afraid 
to  enter. 

As  I  was  waiting,  a  man  came  out  of  a  side  room, 
and,  at  a  glance,  I  was  sure  he  must  be  Long  John. 
His  left  leg  was  cut  off  close  by  the  hip,  and  under  the 
left  shoulder  he  carried  a  crutch,  which  he  managed 

59 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

with  wonderful  dexterity,  hopping  about  upon  it  like  a 
bird.  He  was  very  tall  and  strong,  with  a  face  as  big 
as  a  ham  —  plain  and  pale,  but  intelligent  and  smiling. 
Indeed,  he  seemed  in  the  most  cheerful  spirits,  whistling 
as  he  moved  about  among  the  tables,  with  a  merry  word 
or  a  slap  on  the  shoulder  for  the  more  favoured  of  his 
guests. 

Now,  to  tell  you  the  truth,  from  the  very  first  men- 
tion of  Long  John  in  Squire  Trelawney's  letter,  I  had 
taken  a  fear  in  my  mind  that  he  might  prove  to  be  the 
very  one-legged  sailor  whom  I  had  watched  for  so  long 
at  the  old  "  Benbow."  But  one  look  at  the  man  before 
me  was  enough.  I  had  seen  the  captain,  and  Black 
Dog,  and  the  blind  man  Pew,  and  I  thought  I  knew 
what  a  buccaneer  was  like — a  very  different  creature, 
according  to  me,  from  this  clean  and  pleasant-tempered 
landlord. 

I  plucked  up  courage  at  once,  crossed  the  threshold, 
and  walked  right  up  to  the  man  where  he  stood,  propped 
on  his  crutch,  talking  to  a  customer. 

"Mr.  Silver,  sir?  "  I  asked,  holding  out  the  note. 

"Yes,  my  lad,"  said  he;  "such  is  my  name,  to  be 
sure.  And  who  may  you  be  r  "  And  then  as  he  saw 
the  squire's  letter,  he  seemed  to  me  to  give  something 
almost  like  a  start. 

"Oh!"  said  he,  quite  loud,  and  offering  his  hand, 
' '  I  see.  You  are  our  new  cabin-boy ;  pleased  I  am  to 
see  you." 

And  he  took  my  hand  in  his  large  firm  grasp. 

Just  then  one  of  the  customers  at  the  far  side  rose 
suddenly  and  made  for  the  door.  It  was  close  by  him, 
and  he  was  out  in  the  street  in  a  moment.     But  his 

60 


AT  THE  SIGN   OF  THE   "SPY-GLASS" 

hurry  had  attracted  my  notice,  and  I  recognised  him  at  a 
glance.  It  was  the  tallow-faced  man,  wanting  two  fin- 
gers, who  had  come  first  to  the  "Admiral  Benbow." 

"Oh,"  I  cried,  "stop  him!  it's  Black  Dog!" 

"I  don't  care  two  coppers  who  he  is,"  cried  Silver. 
"But  he  hasn't  paid  his  score.  Harry,  run  and  catch 
him." 

One  of  the  others  who  was  nearest  the  door  leaped 
up,  and  started  in  pursuit. 

"  If  he  were  Admiral  Hawke  he  shall  pay  his  score," 
cried  Silver;  and  then,  relinquishing  my  hand — "Who 
did  you  say  he  was  ?  "  he  asked.     "  Black  what  ?  " 

"Dog,  sir,"  said  I.  "Has  Mr.  Trelawney  not  told 
you  of  the  buccaneers  ?    He  was  one  of  them." 

"So?"  cried  Silver.  "In  my  house!  Ben,  run  and 
help  Harry.  One  of  those  swabs,  was  he  ?  Was  that 
you  drinking  with  him,  Morgan  ?    Step  up  here." 

The  man  whom  he  called  Morgan  —  an  old,  grey- 
haired,  mahogany-faced  sailor  —  came  forward  pretty 
sheepishly,  rolling  his  quid. 

"Now,  Morgan,"  said  Long  John,  very  sternly ;  "you 
never  clapped  your  eyes  on  that  Black  —  Black  Dog  be- 
fore, did  you,  now  ?  " 

"Not  I,  sir,"  said  Morgan,  with  a  salute. 

"You  didn't  know  his  name,  did  you?" 

"No,  sir." 

"  By  the  powers,  Tom  Morgan,  it's  as  good  for  you! " 
exclaimed  the  landlord.  "If  you  had  been  mixed  up 
with  the  like  of  that,  you  would  never  have  put  another 
foot  in  my  house,  you  may  lay  to  that  And  what  was 
he  saying  to  you  ?  " 

"I  don't  rightly  know,  sir,"  answered  Morgan. 
61 


TREASURE   ISLAND 

"Do  you  call  that  a  head  on  your  shoulders,  or  a 
blessed  dead-eye  ?  "  cried  Long  John.  "  Don't  rightly 
know,  don't  you!  Perhaps  you  don't  happen  to  rightly 
know  who  you  was  speaking  to,  perhaps?  Come, 
now,  what  was  he  jawing  —  v'yages,  cap'ns,  ships? 
Pipe  up !     What  was  it  ?  " 

"We  was  a-talkin'  of  keel-hauling,"  answered  Mor- 
gan. 

"Keel-hauling,  was  you?  and  a  mighty  suitable 
thing,  too,  and  you  may  lay  to  that.  Get  back  to  your 
place  for  a  lubber,  Tom." 

And  then,  as  Morgan  rolled  back  to  his  seat,  Silver 
added  to  me  in  a  confidential  whisper,  that  was  very 
flattering,  as  I  thought :  — 

1 '  He's  quite  an  honest  man,  Tom  Morgan,  on'y  stupid. 
And  now,"  he  ran  on  again,  aloud,  "let's  see  —  Black 
Dog  ?  No,  I  don't  know  the  name,  not  I.  Yet  I  kind 
of  think  I've — yes,  I've  seen  the  swab.  He  used  to 
come  here  with  a  blind  beggar,  he  used." 

"That  he  did,  you  may  be  sure,"  said  I.  "I  knew 
that  blind  man,  too.     His  name  was  Pew." 

"  It  was! "  cried  Silver,  now  quite  excited.  "  Pew! 
That  were  his  name  for  certain.  Ah,  he  looked  a  shark, 
he  did !  If  we  run  down  this  Black  Dog,  now,  there'll  be 
news  for  Cap'n  Trelawney!  Ben's  a  good  runner;  few 
seamen  run  better  than  Ben.  He  should  run  him  down, 
hand  over  hand,  by  the  powers !  He  talked  o'  keel-haul- 
ing, did  he  ?    Vll  keel-haul  him ! " 

All  the  time  he  was  jerking  out  these  phrases  he  was 
stumping  up  and  down  the  tavern  on  his  crutch,  slap- 
ping tables  with  his  hand,  and  giving  such  a  show  of 
excitement  as  would  have  convinced  an  Old  Bailey  judge 

62 


AT  THE  SIGN  OF  THE  "SPY-GLASS" 

or  a  Bow  Street  runner.  My  suspicions  had  been  thor- 
oughly re-awakened  on  finding  Black  Dog  at  the  "  Spy- 
glass," and  I  watched  the  cook  narrowly.  But  he  was 
too  deep,  and  too  ready,  and  too  clever  for  me,  and  by  the 
time  the  two  men  had  come  back  out  of  breath,  and  con- 
fessed that  they  had  lost  the  track  in  a  crowd,  and  been 
scolded  like  thieves,  I  would  have  gone  bail  for  the  in- 
nocence of  Long  John  Silver. 

"See  here,  now,  Hawkins,"  said  he,  "here's  a  blessed 
hard  thing  on  a  man  like  me,  now,  ain't  it  ?  There's 
Cap'n  Trelawney — what's  he  to  think?  Here  I  have 
this  confounded  son  of  a  Dutchman  sitting  in  my  own 
house,  drinking  of  my  own  rum !  Here  you  comes  and 
tells  me  of  it  plain ;  and  here  I  let  him  give  us  all  the  slip 
before  my  blessed  dead-lights !  Now,  Hawkins,  you  do 
me  justice  with  the  cap'n.  You're  a  lad,  you  are,  but 
you're  as  smart  as  paint.  I  see  that  when  you  first  came 
in.  Now,  here  it  is:  What  could  I  do,  with  this  old 
timber  I  hobble  on  ?  When  I  was  an  A  B  master  mari- 
ner I'd  have  come  up  alongside  of  him,  hand  over  hand, 
and  broached  him  to  in  a  brace  of  old  shakes,  I  would ; 
but  now " 

And  then,  all  of  a  sudden,  he  stopped,  and  his  jaw 
dropped  as  though  he  had  remembered  something. 

"The  score!"  he  burst  out.  "Three  goes  o'  rum! 
Why,  shiver  my  timbers,  if  I  hadn't  forgotten  my  score ! " 

And,  falling  on  a  bench,  he  laughed  until  the  tears 
ran  down  his  cheeks.  I  could  not  help  joining;  and  we 
laughed  together,  peal  after  peal,  until  the  tavern  rang 
again. 

"Why,  what  a  precious  old  sea-calf  I  am! "  he  said, 
at  last,  wiping  his  cheeks.     "You  and  me  should  get 

63 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

on  well,  Hawkins,  for  I'll  take  my  davy  I  should  be  rated 
ship's  boy.  But,  come,  now,  stand  by  to  go  about.  This 
won't  do.  Dooty  is  dooty,  messmates.  I'll  put  on  my 
old  cocked  hat,  and  step  along  of  you  to  Cap'n  Trelaw- 
ney,  and  report  this  here  affair.  For,  mind  you,  it's  se- 
rious, young  Hawkins ;  and  neither  you  nor  me's  come 
out  of  it  with  what  I  should  make  so  bold  as  to  call 
credit.  Nor  you  neither,  says  you;  not  smart  —  none 
of  the  pair  of  us  smart.  But  dash  my  buttons !  that  was 
a  good  'un  about  my  score." 

And  he  began  to  laugh  again,  and  that  so  heartily, 
that  though  I  did  not  see  the  joke  as  he  did,  I  was  again 
obliged  to  join  him  in  his  mirth. 

On  our  little  walk  along  the  quays,  he  made  himself 
the  most  interesting  companion,  telling  me  about  the 
different  ships  that  we  passed  by,  their  rig,  tonnage, 
and  nationality,  explaining  the  work  that  was  going 
forward  —  how  one  was  discharging,  another  taking  in 
cargo,  and  a  third  making  ready  for  sea ;  and  every  now 
and  then  telling  me  some  little  anecdote  of  ships  or  sea- 
men, or  repeating  a  nautical  phrase  till  I  had  learned  it 
perfectly.  I  began  to  see  that  here  was  one  of  the  best 
of  possible  shipmates. 

When  we  got  to  the  inn,  the  squire  and  Dr.  Livesey 
were  seated  together,  finishing  a  quart  of  ale  with  a  toast 
in  it,  before  they  should  go  aboard  the  schooner  on  a  visit 
of  inspection. 

Long  John  told  the  story  from  first  to  last,  with  a 
great  deal  of  spirit  and  the  most  perfect  truth.  "That 
was  how  it  were,  now,  weren't  it,  Hawkins  ?  "  he  would 
say,  now  and  again,  and  I  could  always  bear  him  entirely 
out. 

64 


AT  THE  SIGN  OF  THE  "SPY-GLASS" 

The  two  gentlemen  regretted  that  Black  Dog  had  got 
away ;  but  we  all  agreed  there  was  nothing  to  be  done, 
and  after  he  had  been  complimented,  Long  John  took  up 
his  crutch  and  departed. 

"All  hands  aboard  by  four  this  afternoon,"  shouted 
the  squire,  after  him. 

"  Ay,  ay,  sir,"  cried  the  cook,  in  the  passage. 

"Well,  squire,"  said  Dr.  Livesey,  "I  don't  put  much 
faith  in  your  discoveries,  as  a  general  thing;  but  I  will 
say  this,  John  Silver  suits  me." 

"The  man's  a  perfect  trump,"  declared  the  squire. 

"And  now,"  added  the  doctor,  "Jim  may  come  on 
board  with  us,  may  he  not  ?  " 

"  To  be  sure  he  may, "  says  squire.  "  Take  your  hat, 
Hawkins,  and  we'll  see  the  ship." 


CHAPTER  IX 

POWDER  AND  ARMS 

The  Hispaniola  lay  some  way  out,  and  we  went  under 
the  figureheads  and  round  the  sterns  of  many  other  ships, 
and  their  cables  sometimes  grated  underneath  our  keel, 
and  sometimes  swung  above  us.  At  last,  however,  we 
got  alongside,  and  were  met  and  saluted  as  we  stepped 
aboard  by  the  mate,  Mr.  Arrow,  a  brown  old  sailor,  with 
earrings  in  his  ears  and  a  squint.  He  and  the  squire  were 
very  thick  and  friendly,  but  I  soon  observed  that  things 
were  not  the  same  between  Mr.  Trelawney  and  the  captain. 

This  last  was  a  sharp-looking  man,  who  seemed  an- 
gry with  everything  on  board,  and  was  soon  to  tell  us 
why,  for  we  had  hardly  got  down  into  the  cabin  when 
a  sailor  followed  us. 

"Captain  Smollett,  sir,  axing  to  speak  with  you," 
said  he. 

"  I  am  always  at  the  captain's  orders.  Show  him  in," 
said  the  squire. 

The  captain,  who  was  close  behind  his  messenger, 
entered  at  once,  and  shut  the  door  behind  him. 

"Well,  Captain  Smollett,  what  have  you  to  say?  All 
well,  I  hope ;  all  shipshape  and  seaworthy  ?  " 

"Well,  sir,"  said  the  captain,  "better  speak  plain,  I 
believe,  even  at  the  risk  of  offence.     I  don't  like  this 

66 


POWDER  AND   ARMS 

cruise;  I  don't  like  the  men;  and  I  don't  like  my  officer. 
That's  short  and  sweet." 

"  Perhaps,  sir,  you  don't  like  the  ship  ?"  inquired  the 
squire,  very  angry,  as  I  could  see. 

"I  can't  speak  as  to  that,  sir,  not  having  seen  her 
tried,"  said  the  captain.  "She  seems  a  clever  craft; 
more  I  can't  say." 

"Possibly,  sir,  you  may  not  like  your  employer, 
either?"  says  the  squire. 

But  here  Dr.  Livesey  cut  in. 

"Stay  a  bit,"  said  he,  "stay  a  bit.  No  use  of  such 
questions  as  that  but  to  produce  ill-feeling.  The  captain 
has  said  too  much  or  he  has  said  too  little,  and  I'm  bound 
to  say  that  I  require  an  explanation  of  his  words.  You 
don't,  you  say,  like  this  cruise.     Now,  why  ?  " 

"I  was  engaged,  sir,  on  what  we  call  sealed  orders, 
to  sail  this  ship  for  that  gentleman  where  he  should  bid 
me,"  said  the  captain.  "So  far  so  good.  But  now  I 
find  that  every  man  before  the  mast  knows  more  than 
I  do.     I  don't  call  that  fair,  now,  do  you  ?  " 

"No,"  said  Dr.  Livesey,  "I  don't." 

"Next,"  said  the  captain,  "  I  learn  we  are  going  after 
treasure — hear  it  from  my  own  hands,  mind  you.  Now, 
treasure  is  ticklish  work ;  I  don't  like  treasure  voyages 
on  any  account;  and  I  don't  like  them,  above  all,  when 
they  are  secret,  and  when  (begging  your  pardon,  Mr. 
Trelawney)  the  secret  has  been  told  to  the  parrot. " 

"Silver's  parrot?"  asked  the  squire. 

"  It's  away  of  speaking,"  said  the  captain.  "Blabbed, 
I  mean.  It's  my  belief  neither  of  you  gentlemen  know 
what  you  are  about;  but  I'll  tell  you  my  way  of  it  — 
life  or  death,  and  a  close  run." 

67 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

"That  is  all  clear,  and,  I  daresay,  true  enough,"  re- 
plied Dr.  Livesey.  "  We  take  the  risk;  but  we  are  not 
so  ignorant  as  you  believe  us.  Next,  you  say  you  don't 
like  the  crew.     Are  they  not  good  seamen  ?  " 

"I  don't  like  them,  sir,"  returned  Captain  Smollett. 
"And  I  think  I  should  have  had  the  choosing  of  my 
own  hands,  if  you  go  to  that." 

"Perhaps  you  should,"  replied  the  doctor.  "My 
friend  should,  perhaps,  have  taken  you  along  with  him ; 
but  the  slight,  if  there  be  one,  was  unintentional.  And 
you  don't  like  Mr.  Arrow  ?  " 

"I  don't,  sir.  I  believe  he's  a  good  seaman;  but 
he's  too  free  with  the  crew  to  be  a  good  officer.  A 
mate  should  keep  himself  to  himself —  shouldn't  drink 
with  the  men  before  the  mast ! " 

"  Do  you  mean  he  drinks  ?"  cried  the  squire. 

"No,  sir,"  replied  the  captain;  "only  that  he's  too 
familiar." 

"Well,  now,  and  the  short  and  long  of  it,  captain  ?" 
asked  the  doctor.     "Tell  us  what  you  want." 

"Well,  gentlemen,  are  you  determined  to  go  on  this 
cruise  ?  " 

"Like  iron,"  answered  the  squire. 

"Very  good,"  said  the  captain.  "Then,  as  you've 
heard  me  very  patiently,  saying  things  that  I  could  not 
prove,  hear  me  a  few  words  more.  They  are  putting 
the  powder  and  the  arms  in  the  fore  hold.  Now,  you 
have  a  good  place  under  the  cabin ;  why  not  put  them 
there  ?  —  first  point.  Then  you  are  bringing  four  of  your 
own  people  with  you,  and  they  tell  me  some  of  them 
are  to  be  berthed  forward.  Why  not  give  them  the  berths 
here  beside  the  cabin  ?  —  second  point." 

68 


POWDER  AND  ARMS 

"Any  more?"  asked  Mr.  Trelawney. 

"One  more,"  said  the  captain.  "There's  been  too 
much  blabbing  already." 

"Far  too  much,"  agreed  the  doctor. 

"  I'll  tell  you  what  I've  heard  myself,"  continued  Cap- 
tain Smollett:  "that  you  have  a  map  of  an  island;  that 
there's  crosses  on  the  map  to  show  where  treasure  is; 

and  that  the  island  lies "     And  then  he  named  the 

latitude  and  longitude  exactly. 

"I  never  told  that,"  cried  the  squire,  "to  a  soul!" 

"The  hands  know  it,  sir,"  returned  the  captain. 

"  Livesey,  that  must  have  been  you  or  Hawkins," 
cried  the  squire. 

"It  doesn't  much  matter  who  it  was,"  replied  the 
doctor.  And  I  could  see  that  neither  he  nor  the  captain 
paid  much  regard  to  Mr.  Trelawney's  protestations. 
Neither  did  I,  to  be  sure,  he  was  so  loose  a  talker;  yet 
in  this  case  I  believe  he  was  really  right,  and  that  no- 
body had  told  the  situation  of  the  island. 

"Well,  gentlemen,"  continued  the  captain,  "I  don't 
know  who  has  this  map ;  but  I  make  it  a  point,  it  shall 
be  kept  secret  even  from  me  and  Mr.  Arrow.  Otherwise 
I  would  ask  you  to  let  me  resign." 

"  I  see,"  said  the  doctor.  "  You  wish  us  to  keep  this 
matter  dark,  and  to  make  a  garrison  of  the  stern  part  of 
the  ship,  manned  with  my  friend's  own  people,  and 
provided  with  all  the  arms  and  powder  on  board.  In 
other  words,  you  fear  a  mutiny." 

"Sir,"  said  Captain  Smollett,  "with  no  intention  to 
take  offence,  I  deny  your  right  to  put  words  into  my 
mouth.  No  captain,  sir,  would  be  justified  in  going  to 
sea  at  all  if  he  had  ground  enough  to  say  that.     As  for 

69 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

Mr.  Arrow,  I  believe  him  thoroughly  honest;  some  of 
the  men  are  the  same;  all  may  be  for  what  I  know. 
But  I  am  responsible  for  the  ship's  safety  and  the  life  of 
every  man  Jack  aboard  of  her.  I  see  things  going,  as  I 
think,  not  quite  right.  And  I  ask  you  to  take  certain 
precautions,  or  let  me  resign  my  berth.    And  that's  all." 

" Captain  Smollett,"  began  the  doctor,  with  a  smile, 
"did  ever  you  hear  the  fable  of  the  mountain  and  the 
mouse  ?  You'll  excuse  me,  I  dare  say,  but  you  remind 
me  of  that  fable.  When  you  came  in  here  I'll  stake  my 
wig  you  meant  more  than  this." 

" Doctor,"  said  the  captain,  "you  are  smart.  When 
I  came  in  here  I  meant  to  get  discharged.  I  had  no 
thought  that  Mr.  Trelawney  would  hear  a  word." 

1 '  No  more  I  would, "  cried  the  squire.  ' '  Had  Livesey 
not  been  here  I  should  have  seen  you  to  the  deuce.  As 
it  is,  I  have  heard  you.  I  will  do  as  you  desire ;  but  I 
think  the  worse  of  you." 

"That's  as  you  please,  sir,"  said  the  captain.  "  You'll 
find  I  do  my  duty." 

And  with  that  he  took  his  leave. 

"Trelawney,"  said  the  doctor,  "contrary  to  all  my 
notions,  I  believe  you  have  managed  to  get  two  honest 
men  on  board  with  you  —  that  man  and  John  Silver." 

"Silver,  if  you  like,"  cried  the  squire;  "but  as  for 
that  intolerable  humbug,  I  declare  I  think  his  conduct 
unmanly,  unsailorly,  and  downright  un-English." 

"Well,"  says  the  doctor,  "we  shall  see." 

When  we  came  on  deck,  the  men  had  begun  already 
to  take  out  the  arms  and  powder,  yo-ho-ing  at  their 
work,  while  the  captain  and  Mr.  Arrow  stood  by  super- 
intending. 

7° 


POWDER  AND  ARMS 

The  new  arrangement  was  quite  to  my  liking.  The 
whole  schooner  had  been  overhauled;  six  berths  had 
been  made  astern,  out  of  what  had  been  the  after-part 
of  the  main  hold ;  and  this  set  of  cabins  was  only  joined 
to  the  galley  and  forecastle  by  a  sparred  passage  on  the 
port  side.  It  had  been  originally  meant  that  the  captain, 
Mr.  Arrow,  Hunter,  Joyce,  the  doctor,  and  the  squire, 
were  to  occupy  these  six  berths.  Now,  Redruth  and  I 
were  to  get  two  of  them,  and  Mr.  Arrow  and  the  captain 
were  to  sleep  on  deck  in  the  companion,  which  had  been 
enlarged  on  each  side  till  you  might  almost  have  called 
it  a  round-house.  Very  low  it  was  still,  of  course ;  but 
there  was  room  to  swing  two  hammocks,  and  even  the 
mate  seemed  pleased  with  the  arrangement.  Even  he, 
perhaps,  had  been  doubtful  as  to  the  crew,  but  that  is 
only  guess ;  for,  as  you  shall  hear,  we  had  not  long  the 
benefit  of  his  opinion. 

We  were  all  hard  at  work,  changing  the  powder  and 
the  berths,  when  the  last  man  or  two,  and  Long  John 
along  with  them,  came  off  in  a  shore-boat. 

The  cook  came  up  the  side  like  a  monkey  for  clever- 
ness, and,  as  soon  as  he  saw  what  was  doing,  "So  ho, 
mates!  "  says  he,  "  what's  this  ? " 

"We're  a-changing  of  the  powder,  Jack,"  answers 
one. 

"  Why,  by  the  powers,"  cried  Long  John,  "  if  we  do, 
we'll  miss  the  morning  tide!  " 

"  My  orders!  "  said  the  captain  shortly.  "  You  may 
go  below,  my  man.     Hands  will  want  supper." 

"  Ay,  ay,  sir,"  answered  the  cook;  and,  touching  his 
forelock,  he  disappeared  at  once  in  the  direction  of  his 
galley. 

V 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

"That's  a  good  man,  captain,"  said  the  doctor. 

M  Very  likely,  sir,"  replied  Captain  Smollett.  "Easy 
with  that,  men  —  easy,"  he  ran  on,  to  the  fellows  who 
were  shifting  the  powder;  and  then  suddenly  observing 
me  examining  the  swivel  we  carried  amidships,  a  long 
brass  nine — "  Here,  you  ship's  boy,"  he  cried,  "out  o' 
that!    Off  with  you  to  the  cook  and  get  some  work." 

And  then  as  I  was  hurrying  off  I  heard  him  say,  quite 
loudly,  to  the  doctor: — 

"  I'll  have  no  favourites  on  my  ship." 

I  assure  you  I  was  quite  of  the  squire's  way  of  think- 
ing, and  hated  the  captain  deeply. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  VOYAGE 

All  that  night  we  were  in  a  great  bustle  getting  things 
stowed  in  their  place,  and  boatfuls  of  the  squire's  friends, 
Mr.  Blandly  and  the  like,  coming  off  to  wish  him  a  good 
voyage  and  a  safe  return.  We  never  had  a  night  at  the 
"  Admiral  Benbow"  when  I  had  half  the  work;  and  I 
was  dog-tired  when,  a  little  before  dawn,  the  boatswain 
sounded  his  pipe,  and  the  crew  began  to  man  the  cap- 
stan-bars. I  might  have  been  twice  as  weary,  yet  I 
would  not  have  left  the  deck;  all  was  so  new  and  in- 
teresting to  me  —  the  brief  commands,  the  shrill  note  of 
the  whistle,  the  men  bustling  to  their  places  in  the  glim- 
mer of  the  ship's  lanterns. 

"Now,  Barbecue,  tip  us  a  stave,"  cried  one  voice. 

"The  old  one,"  cried  another. 

"Ay,  ay,  mates,"  said  Long  John,  who  was  standing 
by,  with  his  crutch  under  his  arm,  and  at  once  broke 
out  in  the  air  and  words  I  knew  so  well  — 

"  Fifteen  men  on  the  dead  man's  chest"  — 

And  then  the  whole  crew  bore  chorus :  — 
"  Yo-ho-ho,  and  a  bottle  of  rum!  " 

And  at  the  third  "ho!"   drove  the  bars  before  them 
with  a  will. 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

Even  at  that  exciting  moment  it  carried  me  back  to 
the  old  "Admiral  Benbow"  in  a  second;  and  I  seemed 
to  hear  the  voice  of  the  captain  piping  in  the  chorus. 
But  soon  the  anchor  was  short  up;  soon  it  was  hang- 
ing dripping  at  the  bows ;  soon  the  sails  began  to  draw, 
and  the  land  and  shipping  to  flit  by  on  either  side;  and 
before  I  could  lie  down  to  snatch  an  hour  of  slumber 
the  Hispaniola  had  begun  her  voyage  to  the  Isle  of 
Treasure. 

I  am  not  going  to  relate  that  voyage  in  detail.  It  was 
fairly  prosperous.  The  ship  proved  to  be  a  good  ship, 
the  crew  were  capable  seamen,  and  the  captain  thor- 
oughly understood  his  business.  But  before  we  came 
the  length  of  Treasure  Island,  two  or  three  things  had 
happened  which  require  to  be  known. 

Mr.  Arrow,  first  of  all,  turned  out  even  worse  than 
the  captain  had  feared.  He  had  no  command  among 
the  men,  and  people  did  what  they  pleased  with  him. 
But  that  was  by  no  means  the  worst  of  it ;  for  after  a 
day  or  two  at  sea  he  began  to  appear  on  deck  with 
hazy  eye,  red  cheeks,  stuttering  tongue,  and  other  marks 
of  drunkenness.  Time  after  time  he  was  ordered  below 
in  disgrace.  Sometimes  he  fell  and  cut  himself;  some- 
times he  lay  all  day  long  in  his  little  bunk  at  one  side  of 
the  companion ;  sometimes  for  a  day  or  two  he  would  be 
almost  sober  and  attend  to  his  work  at  least  passably. 

In  the  meantime,  we  could  never  make  out  where  he 
got  the  drink.  That  was  the  ship's  mystery.  Watch 
him  as  we  pleased,  we  could  do  nothing  to  solve  it;  and 
when  we  asked  him  to  his  face,  he  would  only  laugh,  if 
he  were  drunk,  and  if  he  were  sober,  deny  solemnly  that 
he  ever  tasted  anything  but  water. 

74 


THE  VOYAGE 

He  was  not  only  useless  as  an  officer,  and  a  bad  in- 
fluence amongst  the  men,  but  it  was  plain  that  at  this 
rate  he  must  soon  kill  himself  outright ;  so  nobody  was 
much  surprised,  nor  very  sorry,  when  one  dark  night, 
with  a  head  sea,  he  disappeared  entirely  and  was  seen 
no  more. 

" Overboard!  "  said  the  captain.  "  Well,  gentlemen, 
that  saves  the  trouble  of  putting  him  in  irons." 

But  there  we  were,  without  a  mate ;  and  it  was  nec- 
essary, of  course,  to  advance  one  of  the  men.  The 
boatswain,  Job  Anderson,  was  the  likeliest  man  aboard, 
and,  though  he  kept  his  old  title,  he  served  in  a  way  as 
mate.  Mr.  Trelawney  had  followed  the  sea,  and  his 
knowledge  made  him  very  useful,  for  he  often  took  a 
watch  himself  in  easy  weather.  And  the  coxswain, 
Israel  Hands,  was  a  careful,  wily,  old,  experienced  sea- 
man, who  could  be  trusted  at  a  pinch  with  almost  any- 
thing. 

He  was  a  great  confidant  of  Long  John  Silver,  and  so 
the  mention  of  his  name  leads  me  on  to  speak  of  our  ship's 
cook,  Barbecue,  as  the  men  called  him. 

Aboard  ship  he  carried  his  crutch  by  a  lanyard  round 
his  neck,  to  have  both  hands  as  free  as  possible.  It  was 
something  to  see  him  wedge  the  foot  of  the  crutch 
against  a  bulkhead,  and,  propped  against  it,  yielding  to 
every  movement  of  the  ship,  get  on  with  his  cooking 
like  some  one  safe  ashore.  Still  more  strange  was  it  to 
see  him  in  the  heaviest  of  weather  cross  the  deck.  He 
had  a  line  or  two  rigged  up  to  help  him  across  the  wid- 
est spaces  —  Long  John's  earrings,  they  were  called ;  and 
he  would  hand  himself  from  one  place  to  another,  now 
using  the  crutch,  now  trailing  it  alongside  by  the  lan- 

75 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

yard,  as  quickly  as  another  man  could  walk.  Yet  some 
of  the  men  who  had  sailed  with  him  before  expressed 
their  pity  to  see  him  so  reduced. 

"He's  no  common  man,  Barbecue,"  said  the  cox- 
swain to  me.  "He  had  good  schooling  in  his  young 
days,  and  can  speak  like  a  book  when  so  minded ;  and 
brave  —  a  lion's  nothing  alongside  of  Long  John !  I  seen 
him  grapple  four,  and  knock  their  heads  together  —  him 
unarmed." 

All  the  crew  respected  and  even  obeyed  him.  He  had 
a  way  of  talking  to  each,  and  doing  everybody  some 
particular  service.  To  me  he  was  unweariedly  kind; 
and  always  glad  to  see  me  in  the  galley,  which  he  kept 
as  clean  as  a  new  pin;  the  dishes  hanging  up  burnished, 
and  his  parrot  in  a  cage  in  one  corner. 

"Come  away,  Hawkins,"  he  would  say;  "come  and 
have  a  yarn  with  John.  Nobody  more  welcome  than 
yourself,  my  son.  Sit  you  down  and  hear  the  news. 
Here's  Cap'n  Flint  —  I  calls  my  parrot  Cap'n  Flint,  after 
the  famous  buccaneer  —  here's  Cap'n  Flint  predicting 
success  to  our  v'yage.    Wasn't  you,  cap'n  ?  " 

And  the  parrot  would  say,  with  great  rapidity,  "  Pieces 
of  eight!  pieces  of  eight!  pieces  of  eight!"  till  you 
wondered  that  it  was  not  out  of  breath,  or  till  John 
threw  his  handkerchief  over  the  cage. 

"Now,  that  bird,"  he  would  say,  "is,  may  be,  two 
hundred  years  old,  Hawkins — they  lives  for  ever  mostly ; 
and  if  anybody's  seen  more  wickedness,  it  must  be  the 
devil  himself.  She's  sailed  with  England,  the  great  Cap'n 
England,  the  pirate.  She's  been  at  Madagascar,  and  at 
Malabar,  and  Surinam,  and  Providence,  and  Portobello. 
She  was  at  the  fishing  up  of  the  wrecked  plate  ships. 

76 


THE  VOYAGE 

It's  there  she  learned  '  Pieces  of  eight,'  and  little  wonder; 
three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  of  'em,  Hawkins !  She 
was  at  the  boarding  of  the  Viceroy  of  the  Indies  out  of 
Goa,  she  was ;  and  to  look  at  her  you  would  think  she 
was  a  babby.  But  you  smelt  powder — didn't  you, 
cap'n?" 

"Stand  by  to  go  about,"  the  parrot  would  scream. 

"Ah,  she's  a  handsome  craft,  she  is,"  the  cook  would 
say,  and  give  her  sugar  from  his  pocket,  and  then  the 
bird  would  peck  at  the  bars  and  swear  straight  on,  pass- 
ing belief  for  wickedness.  "There,"  John  would  add, 
"you  can't  touch  pitch  and  not  be  mucked,  lad.  Here's 
this  poor  old  innocent  bird  o'  mine  swearing  blue  fire, 
and  none  the  wiser,  you  may  lay  to  that.  She  would 
swear  the  same,  in  a  manner  of  speaking,  before  chap- 
lain." And  John  would  touch  his  forelock  with  a  sol- 
emn way  he  had,  that  made  me  think  he  was  the  best 
of  men. 

In  the  meantime,  the  squire  and  Captain  Smollett  were 
still  on  pretty  distant  terms  with  one  another.  The 
squire  made  no  bones  about  the  matter;  he  despised  the 
captain.  The  captain,  on  his  part,  never  spoke  but  when 
he  was  spoken  to,  and  then  sharp  and  short  and  dry, 
and  not  a  word  wasted.  He  owned,  when  driven  into  a 
corner,  that  he  seemed  to  have  been  wrong  about  the 
crew,  that  some  of  them  were  as  brisk  as  he  wanted  to 
see,  and  all  had  behaved  fairly  well.  As  for  the  ship, 
he  had  taken  a  downright  fancy  to  her.  "She'll  lie  a 
point  nearer  the  wind  than  a  man  has  a  right  to  expect 
of  his  own  married  wife,  sir.  But,"  he  would  add, 
"all  I  say  is  we're  not  home  again,  and  I  don't  like  the 
cruise." 

77 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

The  squire,  at  this,  would  turn  away  and  march  up 
and  down  the  deck,  chin  in  air. 

"A  trifle  more  of  that  man,"  he  would  say,  "and  I 
shall  explode." 

We  had  some  heavy  weather,  which  only  proved  the 
qualities  of  the  Hispaniola.  Every  man  on  board  seemed 
well  content,  and  they  must  have  been  hard  to  please 
if  they  had  been  otherwise ;  for  it  is  my  belief  there  was 
never  a  ship's  company  so  spoiled  since  Noah  put  to  sea. 
Double  grog  was  going  on  the  least  excuse ;  there  was 
duff  on  odd  days,  as,  for  instance,  if  the  squire  heard  it 
was  any  man's  birthday ;  and  always  a  barrel  of  apples 
standing  broached  in  the  waist,  for  any  one  to  help  him- 
self that  had  a  fancy. 

"Never  knew  good  come  of  it  yet,"  the  captain  said 
to  Dr.  Livesey.  "Spoil  foc's'le  hands,  make  devils. 
That's  my  belief." 

But  good  did  come  of  the  apple  barrel,  as  you  shall 
hear;  for  if  it  had  not  been  for  that,  we  should  have  had 
no  note  of  warning,  and  might  all  have  perished  by  the 
hand  of  treachery. 

This  was  how  it  came  about. 

We  had  run  up  the  trades  to  get  the  wind  of  the  isl- 
and we  were  after — I  am  not  allowed  to  be  more  plain 
— and  now  we  were  running  down  for  it  with  a  bright 
look-out  day  and  night.  It  was  about  the  last  day  of 
our  outward  voyage,  by  the  largest  computation ;  some 
time  that  night,  or,  at  latest,  before  noon  of  the  morrow, 
we  should  sight  the  Treasure  Island.  We  were  head- 
ing S.S.W.,  and  had  a  steady  breeze  abeam  and  a  quiet 
sea.  The  Hispaniola  rolled  steadily,  dipping  her  bow- 
sprit now  and  then  with  a  whiff  of  spray.     All  was. 

78 


THE  VOYAGE 

drawing  alow  and  aloft;  every  one  was  in  the  bravest 
spirits,  because  we  were  now  so  near  an  end  of  the 
first  part  of  our  adventure. 

Now,  just  after  sundown,  when  all  my  work  was 
over,  and  I  was  on  my  way  to  my  berth,  it  occurred  to 
me  that  I  should  like  an  apple.  I  ran  on  deck.  The 
watch  was  all  forward  looking  out  for  the  island.  The 
man  at  the  helm  was  watching  the  luff  of  the  sail,  and 
whistling  away  gently  to  himself;  and  that  was  the  only 
sound  excepting  the  swish  of  the  sea  against  the  bows 
and  around  the  sides  of  the  ship. 

In  I  got  bodily  into  the  apple  barrel,  and  found  there 
was  scarce  an  apple  left ;  but,  sitting  down  there  in  the 
dark,  what  with  the  sound  of  the  waters  and  the  rock- 
ing movement  of  the  ship,  I  had  either  fallen  asleep,  or 
was  on  the  point  of  doing  so,  when  a  heavy  man  sat 
down  with  rather  a  clash  close  by.  The  barrel  shook 
as  he  leaned  his  shoulders  against  it,  and  I  was  just 
about  to  jump  up  when  the  man  began  to  speak.  It 
was  Silver's  voice,  and,  before  I  had  heard  a  dozen 
words,  I  would  not  have  shown  myself  for  all  the  world, 
but  lay  there,  trembling  and  listening,  in  the  extreme  of 
fear  and  curiosity ;  for  from  these  dozen  words  I  under- 
stood that  the  lives  of  all  the  honest  men  aboard  de- 
pended upon  me  alone. 


79 


CHAPTER  XI 

WHAT  I   HEARD   IN   THE  APPLE  BARREL 

"No,  not  I,"  said  Silver.  "Flint  was  cap'n;  I  was 
quartermaster,  along  of  my  timber  leg.  The  same 
broadside  I  lost  my  leg,  old  Pew  lost  his  dead-lights. 
It  was  a  master  surgeon,  him  that  ampytated  me — out 
of  college  and  all  —  Latin  by  the  bucket,  and  what  not; 
but  he  was  hanged  like  a  dog,  and  sun-dried  like  the 
rest,  at  Corso  Castle.  That  was  Roberts'  men,  that  was, 
and  corned  of  changing  names  to  their  ships  —  Royal 
Fortune  and  so  on.  Now,  what  a  ship  was  christened, 
so  let  her  stay,  I  says.  So  it  was  with  the  Cassandra, 
as  brought  us  all  safe  home  from  Malabar,  after  England 
took  the  Viceroy  of  the  Indies ;  so  it  was  with  the  old 
Walrus,  Flint's  old  ship,  as  I've  seen  a-muck  with  the 
red  blood  and  fit  to  sink  with  gold." 

"  Ah ! "  cried  another  voice,  that  of  the  youngest  hand 
on  board,  and  evidently  full  of  admiration,  "he  was  the 
flower  of  the  flock,  was  Flint! " 

"Davis  was  a  man,  too,  by  all  accounts," said  Silver. 
"I  never  sailed  along  of  him;  first  with  England,  then 
with  Flint,  that's  my  story ;  and  now  here  on  my  own 
account,  in  a  manner  of  speaking.  I  laid  by  nine  hun- 
dred safe,  from  England,  and  two  thousand  after  Flint. 
That  ain't  bad  for  a  man  before  the  mast  —  all  safe  in 

80 


WHAT  I  HEARD   IN  THE  APPLE   BARREL 

bank.  'Tain't  earning  now,  it's  saving  does  it,  you  may 
lay  to  that.  Where's  all  England's  men  now  ?  I  dunno, 
Where's  Flint's  ?  Why,  most  on  'em  aboard  here,  and 
glad  to  get  the  duff — been  begging  before  that,  some 
on  'em.  Old  Pew,  as  had  lost  his  sight,  and  might 
have  thought  shame,  spends  twelve  hundred  pound  in 
a  year,  like  a  lord  in  Parliament.  Where  is  he  now  ? 
Well,  he's  dead  now  and  under  hatches ;  but  for  two  year 
before  that,  shiver  my  timbers !  the  man  was  starving. 
He  begged,  and  he  stole,  and  he  cut  throats,  and  starved 
at  that,  by  the  powers ! " 

"Well,  it  ain't  much  use,  after  all,"  said  the  young 
seaman. 

"'Tain't  much  use  for  fools,  you  may  lay  to  it  —  that, 
nor  nothing,"  cried  Silver.  "But  now,  you  look  here: 
you're  young,  you  are,  but  you're  as  smart  as  paint.  I 
see  that  when  I  set  my  eyes  on  you,  and  I'll  talk  to  you 
like  a  man." 

You  may  imagine  how  I  felt  when  I  heard  this  abom- 
inable old  rogue  addressing  another  in  the  very  same 
words  of  flattery  as  he  had  used  to  myself.  I  think,  if 
I  had  been  able,  that  I  would  have  killed  him  through 
the  barrel.  Meantime,  he  ran  on,  little  supposing  he 
was  overheard. 

"Here  it  is  about  gentlemen  of  fortune.  They  lives 
rough,  and  they  risk  swinging,  but  they  eat  and  drink 
like  fighting-cocks,  and  when  a  cruise  is  done,  why,  it's 
hundreds  of  pounds  instead  of  hundreds  of  farthings  in 
their  pockets.  Now,  the  most  goes  for  rum  and  a  good 
fling,  and  to  sea  again  in  their  shirts.  But  that's  not 
the  course  I  lay.  I  puts  it  all  away,  some  here,  some 
there,  and  none  too  much  anywheres,  by  reason  of  sus- 

81 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

picion.  I'm  fifty,  mark  you ;  once  back  from  this  cruise, 
I  set  up  gentleman  in  earnest.  Time  enough,  too,  says 
you.  Ah,  but  I've  lived  easy  in  the  meantime;  never 
denied  myself  o'  nothing  heart  desires,  and  slep'  soft  and 
ate  dainty  all  my  days,  but  when  at  sea.  And  how  did 
I  begin  ?    Before  the  mast,  like  you !  " 

"Well,"  said  the  other,  "but  all  the  other  money's 
gone  now,  ain't  it  ?  You  daren't  show  face  in  Bristol 
after  this. " 

"Why,  where  might  you  suppose  it  was?"  asked 
Silver,  derisively. 

"  At  Bristol,  in  banks  and  places,"  answered  his  com- 
panion. 

' '  It  were, "  said  the  cook ;  "  it  were  when  we  weighed 
anchor.  But  my  old  missis  has  it  all  by  now.  And  the 
*  Spy-glass '  is  sold,  lease  and  goodwill  and  rigging ;  and 
the  old  girl's  off  to  meet  me.  I  would  tell  you  where, 
for  I  trust  you;  but  it  'u'd  make  jealousy  among  the 
mates." 

"  And  can  you  trust  your  missis  ?  "  asked  the  other. 

"Gentlemen  of  fortune,"  returned  the  cook,  "usu- 
ally trusts  little  among  themselves,  and  right  they  are, 
you  may  lay  to  it.  But  I  have  a  way  with  me,  I  have. 
When  a  mate  brings  a  slip  on  his  cable  —  one  as  knows 
me,  I  mean  —  it  won't  be  in  the  same  world  with  old 
John.  There  was  some  that  was  feared  of  Pew,  and 
some  that  was  feared  of  Flint;  but  Flint  his  own  self  was 
feared  of  me.  Feared  he  was,  and  proud.  They  was 
the  roughest  crew  afloat,  was  Flint's ;  the  devil  himself 
would  have  been  feared  to  go  to  sea  with  them.  Well, 
now,  I  tell  you,  I'm  not  a  boasting  man,  and  you  seen 
yourself  how  easy  I  keep  company;  but  when  I  was 

82 


WHAT  I   HEARD   IN   THE   APPLE   BARREL 

quartermaster,  lambs  wasn't  the  word  for  Flint's  old 
buccaneers.  Ah,  you  may  be  sure  of  yourself  in  old 
John's  ship." 

"Well,  I  tell  you  now,"  replied  the  lad,  "I  didn't 
half  a  quarter  like  the  job  till  I  had  this  talk  with  you, 
John;  but  there's  my  hand  on  it  now." 

"And  a  brave  lad  you  were,  and  smart,  too,"  an- 
swered Silver,  shaking  hands  so  heartily  that  all  the  bar- 
rel shook,  "and  a  finer  figurehead  for  a  gentleman  of 
fortune  I  never  clapped  my  eyes  on." 

By  this  time  I  had  begun  to  understand  the  meaning 
of  their  terms.  By  a  "gentleman  of  fortune"  they 
plainly  meant  neither  more  nor  less  than  a  common 
pirate,  and  the  little  scene  that  I  had  overheard  was  the 
last  act  in  the  corruption"  of  one  of  the  honest  hands  — 
perhaps  of  the  last  one  left  aboard.  But  on  this  point 
I  was  soon  to  be  relieved,  for  Silver  giving  a  little 
whistle,  a  third  man  strolled  up  and  sat  down  by  the 
party. 

"Dick's  square,"  said  Silver. 

"Oh,  I  know'd  Dick  was  square,"  returned  the  voice 
of  the  coxswain,  Israel  Hands.  "  He's  no  fool,  is  Dick." 
And  he  turned  his  quid  and  spat.  "But,  look  here,"  he 
went  on,  "  here's  what  I  want  to  know,  Barbecue:  how 
long  are  we  a-going  to  stand  off  and  on  like  a  blessed 
bumboat?  I've  had  a'most  enough  o'  Cap'n  Smollett; 
he's  hazed  me  long  enough,  by  thunder!  I  want  to  go 
into  that  cabin,  I  do.  I  want  their  pickles  and  wines, 
and  that." 

"  Israel,"  said  Silver,  "your  head  ain't  much  account, 
nor  ever  was.  But  you're  able  to  hear,  I  reckon ;  least- 
ways, your  ears  is  big  enough.   Now,  here's  what  I  say : 

83 


TREASURE   ISLAND 

you'll  berth  forward,  and  you'll  live  hard,  and  you'll 
speak  soft,  and  you'll  keep  sober,  till  I  give  the  word; 
and  you  may  lay  to  that,  my  son." 

"Well,  I  don't  say  no,  do  I  ?"  growled  the  coxswain. 
"  What  I  say  is,  when  ?    That's  what  I  say." 

1 '  When !  by  the  powers !  "  cried  Silver.  ' '  Well,  now, 
if  you  want  to  know,  I'll  tell  you  when.  The  last  mo- 
ment I  can  manage;  and  that's  when.  Here's  a  first- 
rate  seaman,  Cap'n  Smollett,  sails  the  blessed  ship  for  us. 
Here's  this  squire  and  doctor  with  a  map  and  such  —  1 
don't  know  where  it  is,  do  I  ?  No  more  do  you,  says 
you.  Well,  then,  I  mean  this  squire  and  doctor  shall 
find  the  stuff,  and  help  us  to  get  it  aboard,  by  the 
powers!  Then  we'll  see.  If  I  was  sure  of  you  all,  sons 
of  double  Dutchmen,  I'd  have  Cap'n  Smollett  navigate 
us  half-way  back  again  before  I  struck. " 

"Why,  we're  all  seamen  aboard  here,  I  should  think," 
said  the  lad  Dick. 

"We're  all  foc's'le  hands,  you  mean,"  snapped  Silver. 
"We  can  steer  a  course,  but  who's  to  set  one ?  That's 
what  all  you  gentlemen  split  on,  first  and  last.  If  I  had 
my  way,  I'd  have  Cap'n  Smollett  work  us  back  into  the 
trades  at  least;  then  we'd  have  no  blessed  miscalcula- 
tions and  a  spoonful  of  water  a  day.  But  I  know  the 
sort  you  are.  I'll  finish  with  'em  at  the  island,  as  soon's 
the  blunt's  on  board,  and  a  pity  it  is.  But  you're  never 
happy  till  you're  drunk.  Split  my  sides,  I've  a  sick  heart 
to  sail  with  the  likes  of  you! " 

1 '  Easy  all,  Long  John, "  cried  Israel.  ' ■  Who's  a-cross- 
in'  of  you  ?  " 

"Why,  how  many  tall  ships,  think  ye,  now,  have  I 
seen  laid  aboard  ?  and  how  many  brisk  lads  drying  in 

84 


WHAT  I   HEARD  IN  THE  APPLE  BARREL 

the  sun  at  Execution  Dock?"  cried  Silver,  "and  all  for 
this  same  hurry  and  hurry  and  hurry.  You  hear  me  ? 
I  seen  a  thing  or  two  at  sea,  I  have.  If  you  would  on'y 
lay  your  course,  and  a  p'int  to  windward,  you  would 
ride  in  carriages,  you  would.  But  not  you!  I  know 
you.  You'll  have  your  mouthful  of  rum  to-morrow, 
and  go  hang." 

"Everybody  know'd  you  was  a  kind  of  a  chapling, 
John ;  but  there's  others  as  could  hand  and  steer  as  well 
as  you,"  said  Israel.  "They  liked  a  bit  o'  fun,  they  did. 
They  wasn't  so  high  and  dry,  nohow,  but  took  their 
fling,  like  jolly  companions  every  one." 

' '  So  ?  "  says  Silver.  ' '  Well,  and  where  are  they  now  ? 
Pew  was  that  sort,  and  he  died  a  beggar-man.  Flint 
was,  and  he  died  of  rum  at  Savannah.  Ah,  they  was  a 
sweet  crew,  they  was!  on'y,  where  are  they  ?" 

"But,"  asked  Dick,  "when  we  do  lay  'em  athwart, 
what  are  we  to  do  with  'em,  anyhow  ?" 

"There's  the  man  for  me!"  cried  the  cook,  admir- 
ingly. "That's  what  I  call  business.  Well,  what 
would  you  think  ?  Put  'em  ashore  like  maroons  ?  That 
would  have  been  England's  way.  Or  cut  'em  down 
like  that  much  pork  ?  That  would  have  been  Flint's  or 
Billy  Bones's." 

"Billy  was  the  man  for  that,"  said  Israel.  "  'Dead 
men  don't  bite,'  says  he.  Well,  he's  dead  now  hisself ; 
he  knows  the  long  and  short  on  it  now;  and  if  ever  a 
rough  hand  come  to  port,  it  was  Billy." 

* '  Right  you  are, "  said  Silver,  ' '  rough  and  ready.  But 
mark  you  here:  I'm  an  easy  man  —  I'm  quite  the  gentle- 
man, says  you ;  but  this  time  it's  serious.  Dooty  is  dooty, 
mates.     I  give  my  vote  —  death.     When  I'm  in  Parly- 

85 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

ment,  and  riding  in  my  coach,  I  don't  want  none  of  these 
sea-lawyers  in  the  cabin  a-coming  home,  unlooked  for, 
like  the  devil  at  prayers.  Wait  is  what  I  say ;  but  when 
the  time  comes,  why  let  her  rip ! " 

"John,"  cries  the  coxswain,  "you're  a  man!" 

"You'll  say  so,  Israel,  when  you  see,"  said  Silver. 
' '  Only  one  thing  I  claim — I  claim  Trelawney.  I'll  wring 
his  calf's  head  off  his  body  with  these  hands,  Dick!" 
he  added,  breaking  off,  "you  just  jump  up,  like  a  sweet 
lad,  and  get  me  an  apple,  to  wet  my  pipe  like." 

You  may  fancy  the  terror  I  was  in !  I  should  have 
leaped  out  and  run  for  it,  if  I  had  found  the  strength; 
but  my  limbs  and  heart  alike  misgave  me.  I  heard  Dick 
begin  to  rise,  and  then  some  one  seemingly  stopped  him, 
and  the  voice  of  Hands  exclaimed : — 

"  Oh,  stow  that!  Don't  you  get  sucking  of  that  bilge, 
John.    Let's  have  a  go  of  the  rum." 

"Dick,"  said  Silver,  "I  trust  you.  I've  a  gauge  on 
the  keg,  mind.  There's  the  key ;  you  fill  a  pannikin  and 
bring  it  up." 

Terrified  as  I  was,  I  could  not  help  thinking  to  myself 
that  this  must  have  been  how  Mr.  Arrow  got  the  strong 
waters  that  destroyed  him. 

Dick  was  gone  but  a  little  while,  and  during  his  ab- 
sence Israel  spoke  straight  on  in  the  cook's  ear.  It  was 
but  a  word  or  two  that  I  could  catch,  and  yet  I  gathered 
some  important  news;  for,  besides  other  scraps  that 
tended  to  the  same  purpose,  this  whole  clause  was  au- 
dible: "  Not  another  man  of  them'll  jine."  Hence  there 
were  still  faithful  men  on  board. 

When  Dick  returned,  one  after  another  of  the  trio  took 
the  pannikin  and  drank  —  one  "  To  luck; "  another  with 

86 


WHAT  I   HEARD   IN  THE  APPLE  BARREL 

a  "Here's  to  old  Flint; "  and  Silver  himself  saying,  in  a 
kind  of  song,  "  Here's  to  ourselves,  and  hold  your  luff, 
plenty  of  prizes  and  plenty  of  duff." 

Just  then  a  sort  of  brightness  fell  upon  me  in  the  bar- 
rel, and,  looking  up,  I  found  the  moon  had  risen,  and 
was  silvering  the  mizzen-top  and  shining  white  on  the 
luff  of  the  fore-sail ;  and  almost  at  the  same  time  the 
voice  of  the  look-out  shouted,  "  Land  ho! " 


87 


CHAPTER  XII 

COUNCIL   OF  WAR 

There  was  a  great  rush  of  feet  across  the  deck.  I 
could  hear  people  tumbling  up  from  the  cabin  and  the 
foc's'le;  and,  slipping  in  an  instant  outside  my  barrel,  I 
dived  behind  the  fore-sail,  made  a  double  towards  the 
stern,  and  came  out  upon  the  open  deck  in  time  to  join 
Hunter  and  Dr.  Livesey  in  the  rush  for  the  weather 
bow. 

There  all  hands  were  already  congregated.  A  belt 
of  fog  had  lifted  almost  simultaneously  with  the  appear- 
ance of  the  moon.  Away  to  the  south-west  of  us  we 
saw  two  low  hills,  about  a  couple  of  miles  apart,  and 
rising  behind  one  of  them  a  third  and  higher  hill,  whose 
peak  was  still  buried  in  the  fog.  All  three  seemed  sharp 
and  conical  in  figure. 

So  much  I  saw,  almost  in  a  dream,  for  I  had  not  yet 
recovered  from  my  horrid  fear  of  a  minute  or  two  before. 
And  then  I  heard  the  voice  of  Captain  Smollett  issuing 
orders.  The  Hispaniola  was  laid  a  couple  of  points 
nearer  the  wind,  and  now  sailed  a  course  that  would 
just  clear  the  island  on  the  east. 

"And  now,  men,"  said  the  captain,  when  all  was 
sheeted  home,  "has  any  one  of  you  ever  seen  that  land 
ahead?" 


COUNCIL  OF  WAR 

"I  have,  sir,"  said  Silver.  " I've  watered  there  with 
a  trader  I  was  cook  in." 

"The  anchorage  is  on  the  south,  behind  an  islet,  I 
fancy  ?  "  asked  the  captain. 

"Yes,  sir;  Skeleton  Island  they  calls  it.  It  were  a 
main  place  for  pirates  once,  and  a  hand  we  had  on 
board  knowed  all  their  names  for  it.  That  hill  to  the 
nor'ard  they  calls  the  Fore-mast  Hill;  there  are  three 
hills  in  a  row  running  south'ard  —  fore,  main,  and  miz- 
zen,  sir.  But  the  main  —  that's  the  big  'un,  with  the 
cloud  on  it  —  they  usually  calls  the  Spy-glass,  by  reason 
of  a  lookout  they  kept  when  they  was  in  the  anchorage 
cleaning ;  for  it's  there  they  cleaned  their  ships,  sir,  ask- 
ing your  pardon." 

"I  have  a  chart  here,"  says  Captain  Smollett.  "See 
if  that's  the  place." 

Long  John's  eyes  burned  in  his  head  as  he  took  the 
chart ;  but,  by  the  fresh  look  of  the  paper,  I  knew  he 
was  doomed  to  disappointment.  This  was  not  the  map 
we  found  in  Billy  Bones's  chest,  but  an  accurate  copy, 
complete  in  all  things  —  names  and  heights  and  sound- 
ings—  with  the  single  exception  of  the  red  crosses  and 
the  written  notes.  Sharp  as  must  have  been  his  annoy- 
ance, Silver  had  the  strength  of  mind  to  hide  it. 

*'  Yes,  sir,"  said  he,  "this  is  the  spot,  to  be  sure;  and 
very  prettily  drawed  out.  Who  might  have  done  that, 
I  wonder?.  The  pirates  were  too  ignorant,  I  reckon. 
Ay,  here  it  is :  '  Capt.  Kidd's  Anchorage ' — just  the  name 
my  shipmate  called  it.  There's  a  strong  current  runs 
along  the  south,  and  then  away  nor'ard  up  the  west 
coast.  Right  you  was,  sir,"  says  he,  "to  haul  your 
wind  and  keep  the  weather  of  the  island.     Leastways, 

89 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

if  such  was  your  intention  as  to  enter  and  careen,  and 
there  ain't  no  better  place  for  that  in  these  waters." 

"  Thank  you,  my  man,"  says  Captain  Smollett.  "  I'll 
ask  you,  later  on,  to  give  us  a  help.     You  may  go." 

I  was  surprised  at  the  coolness  with  which  John 
avowed  his  knowledge  of  the  island;  and  I  own  I  was 
half-frightened  when  I  saw  him  drawing  nearer  to  my- 
self. He  did  not  know,  to  be  sure,  that  I  had  overheard 
his  council  from  the  apple  barrel,  and  yet  I  had,  by  this 
time,  taken  such  a  horror  of  his  cruelty,  duplicity,  and 
power,  that  I  could  scarce  conceal  a  shudder  when  he 
laid  his  hand  upon  my  arm. 

"  Ah,"  says  he,  "this  here  is  a  sweet  spot,  this  island 
— a  sweet  spot  for  a  lad  to  get  ashore  on.  You'll  bathe, 
and  you'll  climb  trees,  and  you'll  hunt  goats,  you  will ; 
and  you'll  get  aloft  on  them  hills  like  a  goat  yourself. 
Why,  it  makes  me  young  again.  I  was  going  to  forget 
my  timber  leg,  I  was.  It's  a  pleasant  thing  to  be  young, 
and  have  ten  toes,  and  you  may  lay  to  that.  When  you 
want  to  go  a  bit  of  exploring,  you  just  ask  old  John,  and 
he'll  put  up  a  snack  for  you  to  take  along." 

And  clapping  me  in  the  friendliest  way  upon  the  shoul- 
der, he  hobbled  off  forward,  and  went  below. 

Captain  Smollett,  the  squire,  and  Dr.  Livesey  were 
talking  together  on  the  quarter-deck,  and,  anxious  as  I 
was  to  tell  them  my  story,  I  durst  not  interrupt  them 
openly.  While  I  was  still  casting  about  in  my  thoughts 
to  find  some  probable  excuse,  Dr.  Livesey  called  me  to 
his  side.  He  had  left  his  pipe  below,  and  being  a  slave 
to  tobacco,  had  meant  that  I  should  fetch  it;  but  as  soon 
as  I  was  near  enough  to  speak  and  not  to  be  overheard, 
I  broke  out  immediately :  — "Doctor,  let  me  speak.     Get 

90 


COUNCIL  OF  WAR 

the  captain  and  squire  down  to  the  cabin,  and  then  make 
some  pretence  to  send  for  me.     I  have  terrible  news." 

The  doctor  changed  countenance  a  little,  but  next: 
moment  he  was  master  of  himself. 

"Thank  you,  Jim,"  said  he,  quite  loudly,  "that  was 
all  I  wanted  to  know,"  as  if  he  had  asked  me  a  question. 

And  with  that  he  turned  on  his  heel  and  rejoined  the 
other  two.  They  spoke  together  for  a  little,  and  though 
none  of  them  started,  or  raised  his  voice,  or  so  much  as 
whistled,  it  was  plain  enough  that  Dr.  Livesey  had  com- 
municated my  request;  for  the  next  thing  that  I  heard 
was  the  captain  giving  an  order  to  Job  Anderson,  and 
all  hands  were  piped  on  deck. 

"My  lads,"  said  Captain  Smollett,  "I've  a  word  to 
say  to  you.  This  land  that  we  have  sighted  is  the  place 
we  have  been  sailing  for.  Mr.  Trelawney,  being  a  very 
open-handed  gentleman,  as  we  all  know,  has  just  asked 
me  a  word  or  two,  and  as  I  was  able  to  tell  him  that 
every  man  on  board  had  done  his  duty,  alow  and  aloft, 
as  I  never  ask  to  see  it  done  better,  why,  he  and  I  and 
the  doctor  are  going  below  to  the  cabin  to  drink  your 
health  and  luck,  and  you'll  have  grog  served  out  for  you 
to  drink  our  health  and  luck.  I'll  tell  you  what  I  think  of 
this :  I  think  it  handsome.  And  if  you  think  as  I  do,  you'll 
give  a  good  sea  cheer  for  the  gentleman  that  does  it." 

The  cheer  followed  —  that  was  a  matter  of  course ; 
but  it  rang  out  so  full  and  hearty,  that  I  confess  I  could 
hardly  believe  these  same  men  were  plotting  for  our 
blood. 

"One  more  cheer  for  Cap'n  Smollett,"  cried  Long 
John,  when  the  first  had  subsided. 

And  this  also  was  given  with  a  will. 
91 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

On  the  top  of  that  the  three  gentlemen  went  below, 
and  not  long  after,  word  was  sent  forward  that  Jim 
Hawkins  was  wanted  in  the  cabin. 

I  found  them  all  three  seated  round  the  table,  a  bottle 
of  Spanish  wine  and  some  raisins  before  them,  and  the 
doctor  smoking  away,  with  his  wig  on  his  lap,  and  that, 
I  knew,  was  a  sign  that  he  was  agitated.  The  stern 
window  was  open,  for  it  was  a  warm  night,  and  you 
could  see  the  moon  shining  behind  on  the  ship's  wake. 

"Now,  Hawkins," said  the  squire,  "you  have  some- 
thing to  say.     Speak  up." 

I  did  as  I  was  bid,  and  as  short  as  I  could  make  it, 
told  the  whole  details  of  Silver's  conversation.  Nobody 
interrupted  me  till  I  was  done,  nor  did  any  one  of  the 
three  of  them  make  so  much  as  a  movement,  but  they 
kept  their  eyes  upon  my  face  from  first  to  last. 

"Jim,"  said  Dr.  Livesey,  "take  a  seat." 

And  they  made  me  sit  down  at  table  beside  them, 
poured  me  out  a  glass  of  wine,  filled  my  hands  with 
raisins,  and  all  three,  one  after  the  other,  and  each  with 
a  bow,  drank  my  good  health,  and  their  service  to  me, 
for  my  luck  and  courage. 

"Now,  captain,"  said  the  squire,  "you  were  right 
and  I  was  wrong.  I  own  myself  an  ass,  and  I  await 
your  orders." 

"No  more  an  ass  than  I,  sir,"  returned  the  captain. 
"  I  never  heard  of  a  crew  that  meant  to  mutiny  but  what 
showed  signs  before,  for  any  man  that  had  an  eye  in  his 
head  to  see  the  mischief  and  take  steps  according.  But 
this  crew,"  he  added,  "beats  me." 

"Captain,"  said  the  doctor,  "with  your  permission, 
that's  Silver.     A  very  remarkable  man." 

92 


COUNCIL  OF  WAR 

"He'd  look  remarkably  well  from  a  yard-arm,  sir," 
returned  the  captain.  "  But  this  is  talk;  this  don't  lead 
to  anything.  I  see  three  or  four  points,  and  with  Mr. 
Trelawney's  permission,  I'll  name  them." 

"You,  sir,  are  the  captain.  It  is  for  you  to  speak," 
says  Mr.  Trelawney,  grandly. 

"First  point,"  began  Mr.  Smollett.  "We  must  go 
on,  because  we  can't  turn  back.  If  I  gave  the  word  to 
go  about,  they  would  rise  at  once.  Second  point,  we 
have  time  before  us  —  at  least,  until  this  treasure's  found. 
Third  point,  there  are  faithful  hands.  Now,  sir,  it's  got 
to  come  to  blows  sooner  or  later;  and  what  I  propose 
is,  to  take  time  by  the  forelock,  as  the  saying  is,  and 
come  to  blows  some  fine  day  when  they  least  expect 
it.  We  can  count,  I  take  it,  on  your  own  home  ser- 
vants, Mr.  Trelawney?" 

"As  upon  myself,"  declared  the  squire. 

"Three,"  reckoned  the  captain,  "ourselves  make 
seven,  counting  Hawkins,  here.  Now,  about  the  hon- 
est hands  ?  " 

"  Most  likely  Trelawney's  own  men,"  said  the  doctor; 
"those  he  had  picked  up  for  himself,  before  he  lit  on 
Silver." 

' '  Nay, "  replied  the  squire,  ' '  Hands  was  one  of  mine. " 

"  I  did  think  I  could  have  trusted  Hands,"  added  the 
captain. 

"And  to  think  that  they're  all  Englishmen!"  broke 
out  the  squire.  "Sir,  I  could  find  it  in  my  heart  to 
blow  the  ship  up." 

"Well,  gentlemen,"  said  the  captain,  "the  best  that 
I  can  say  is  not  much.  We  must  lay  to,  if  you  please, 
and  keep  a  bright  look  out.     It's  trying  on  a  man,  I 

93 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

know.  It  would  be  pleasanter  to  come  to  blows.  But 
there's  no  help  for  it  till  we  know  our  men.  Lay  to, 
and  whistle  for  a  wind,  that's  my  view." 

"Jim  here,"  said  the  doctor,  "can  help  us  more  than 
any  one.  The  men  are  not  shy  with  him,  and  Jim  is  a 
noticing  lad." 

"Hawkins,  I  put  prodigious  faith  in  you,"  added  the 
squire. 

I  began  to  feel  pretty  desperate  at  this,  for  I  felt  alto- 
gether helpless;  and  yet,  by  an  odd  train  of  circum- 
stances, it  was  indeed  through  me  that  safety  came.  In 
the  meantime,  talk  as  we  pleased,  there  were  only  seven 
out  of  the  twenty-six  on  whom  we  knew  we  could 
rely ;  and  out  of  these  seven  one  was  a  boy,  so  that  the 
grown  men  on  our  side  were  six  to  their  nineteen. 


94 


PART  in 

MY  SHORE  ADVENTURE 


CHAPTER  XIII 

HOW  MY  SHORE  ADVENTURE  BEGAN 

THE  appearance  of  the  island  when  I  came  on  deck 
next  morning  was  altogether  changed.  Although 
the  breeze  had  now  utterly  ceased,  we  had  made  a  great 
deal  of  way  during  the  night,  and  were  now  lying  be- 
calmed about  half  a  mile  to  the  south-east  of  the  low 
eastern  coast.  Grey-coloured  woods  covered  a  large 
part  of  the  surface.  This  even  tint  was  indeed  broken 
up  by  streaks  of  yellow  sandbreak  in  the  lower  lands, 
and  by  many  tall  trees  of  the  pine  family,  out-topping 
the  others  —  some  singly,  some  in  clumps ;  but  the  gen- 
eral colouring  was  uniform  and  sad.  The  hills  ran  up 
clear  above  the  vegetation  in  spires  of  naked  rock.  AH 
were  strangely  shaped,  and  the  Spy-glass,  which  was 
by  three  or  four  hundred  feet  the  tallest  on  the  island, 
was  likewise  the  strangest  in  configuration,  running  up 
sheer  from  almost  every  side,  and  then  suddenly  cut  off 
at  the  top  like  a  pedestal  to  put  a  statue  on. 

The  Hi&paniola  was  rolling  scuppers  under  in  the 
ocean  swell.  The  booms  were  tearing  at  the  blocks, 
the  rudder  was  banging  to  and  fro,  and  the  whole  ship 
creaking,  groaning,  and  jumping  like  a  manufactory. 
I  had  to  cling  tight  to  the  backstay,  and  the  world 
turned  giddily  before  my  eyes ;  for  though  I  was  a  good 

97 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

enough  sailor  when  there  was  way  on,  this  standing 
still  and  being  rolled  about  like  a  bottle  was  a  thing  I 
never  learned  to  stand  without  a  qualm  or  so,  above  all 
in  the  morning,  on  an  empty  stomach. 

Perhaps  it  was  this  —  perhaps  it  was  the  look  of  the 
island,  with  its  grey,  melancholy  woods,  and  wild  stone 
spires,  and  the  surf  that  we  could  both  see  and  hear 
foaming  and  thundering  on  the  steep  beach  —  at  least, 
although  the  sun  shone  bright  and  hot  and  the  shore 
birds  were  fishing  and  crying  all  around  us,  and  you 
would  have  thought  any  one  would  have  been  glad  to 
get  to  land  after  being  so  long  at  sea,  my  heart  sank,  as 
the  saying  is,  into  my  boots ;  and  from  that  first  look 
onward,  I  hated  the  very  thought  of  Treasure  Island. 

We  had  a  dreary  morning's  work  before  us,  for  there 
was  no  sign  of  any  wind,  and  the  boats  had  to  be  got 
out  and  manned,  and  the  ship  warped  three  or  four 
miles  round  the  corner  of  the  island,  and  up  the  narrow 
passage  to  the  haven  behind  Skeleton  Island.  I  vol- 
unteered for  one  of  the  boats,  where  I  had,  of  course, 
no  business.  The  heat  was  sweltering,  and  the  men 
grumbled  fiercely  over  their  work.  Anderson  was  in 
command  of  my  boat,  and  instead  of  keeping  the  crew 
in  order,  he  grumbled  as  loud  as  the  worst. 

"Well,"  he  said,  with  an  oath,  "  it's  not  for  ever." 

I  thought  thfs  was  a  very  bad  sign ;  for,  up  to  that 
day,  the  men  had  gone  briskly  and  willingly  about  their 
business ;  but  the  very  sight  of  the  island  had  relaxed  the 
cords  of  discipline. 

All  the  way  in,  Long  John  stood  by  the  steersman  and 
conned  the  ship.  He  knew  the  passage  like  the  palm 
of  his  hand ;  and  though  the  man  in  the  chains  got  every- 

98 


HOW  MY  SHORE  ADVENTURE  BEGAN 

where  more  water  than  was  down  in  the  chart,  John 
never  hesitated  once. 

"  There's  a  strong  scour  with  the  ebb,"  he  said,  "  and 
this  here  passage  has  been  dug  out,  in  a  manner  of 
speaking,  with  a  spade." 

We  brought  up  just  where  the  anchor  was  in  the 
chart,  about  a  third  of  a  mile  from  each  shore,  the  main- 
land on  one  side,  and  Skeleton  Island  on  the  other.  The 
bottom  was  clean  sand.  The  plunge  of  our  anchor  sent 
up  clouds  of  birds  wheeling  and  crying  over  the  woods ; 
but  in  less  than  a  minute  they  were  down  again,  and  all 
was  once  more  silent. 

The  place  was  entirely  land-locked,  buried  in  woods, 
the  trees  coming  right  down  to  high-water  mark,  the 
shores  mostly  flat,  and  the  hilltops  standing  round  at  a 
distance  in  a  sort  of  amphitheatre,  one  here,  one  there. 
Two  little  rivers,  or,  rather,  two  swamps,  emptied  out 
into  this  pond,  as  you  might  call  it;  and  the  foliage  round 
that  part  of  the  shore  had  a  kind  of  poisonous  bright- 
ness. From  the  ship,  we  could  see  nothing  of  the  house 
or  stockade,  for  they  were  quite  buried  among  trees ;  and 
if  it  had  not  been  for  the  chart  on  the  companion,  we 
might  have  been  the  first  that  had  ever  anchored  there 
since  the  island  arose  out  of  the  seas. 

There  was  not  a  breath  of  air  moving,  nor  a  sound 
but  that  of  the  surf  booming  half  a  mile  away  along  the 
beaches  and  against  the  rocks  outside.  A  peculiar  stag- 
nant smell  hung  over  the  anchorage  —  a  smell  of  sodden 
leaves  and  rotting  tree  trunks.  I  observed  the  doctor 
sniffing  and  sniffing,  like  some  one  tasting  a  bad  egg. 

"I  don't  know  about  treasure,"  he  said,  "but  I'll 
stake  my  wig  there's  fever  here." 

99 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

If  the  conduct  of  the  men  had  been  alarming  in  the 
boat,  it  became  truly  threatening  when  they  had  come 
aboard.  They  lay  about  the  deck  growling  together  in 
talk.  The  slightest  order  was  received  with  a  black 
look,  and  grudgingly  and  carelessly  obeyed.  Even  the 
honest  hands  must  have  caught  the  infection,  for  there 
was  not  one  man  aboard  to  mend  another.  Mutiny,  it 
was  plain,  hung  over  us  like  a  thunder-cloud. 

And  it  was  not  only  we  of  the  cabin  party  who  per- 
ceived the  danger.  Long  John  was  hard  at  work  going 
from  group  to  group,  spending  himself  in  good  advice, 
and  as  for  example  no  man  could  have  shown  a  better. 
He  fairly  outstripped  himself  in  willingness  and  civility ; 
he  was  all  smiles  to  every  one.  If  an  order  were  given, 
John  would  be  on  his  crutch  in  an  instant,  with  the  cheer- 
iest "Ay,  ay,  sir!"  in  the  world;  and  when  there  was 
nothing  else  to  do,  he  kept  up  one  song  after  another, 
as  if  to  conceal  the  discontent  of  the  rest. 

Of  all  the  gloomy  features  of  that  gloomy  afternoon, 
this  obvious  anxiety  on  the  part  of  Long  John  appeared 
the  worst. 

We  held  a  council  in  the  cabin. 

"Sir,"  said  the  captain,  "if  I  risk  another  order,  the 
whole  ship  '11  come  about  our  ears  by  the  run.  You  see, 
sir,  here  it  is.  I  get  a  rough  answer,  do  I  not  ?  Well, 
if  I  speak  back,  pikes  will  be  going  in  two  shakes ;  if  I 
don't,  Silver  will  see  there's  something  under  that,  and 
the  game's  up.     Now,  we've  only  one  man  to  rely  on." 

"  And  who  is  that  ?"  asked  the  squire. 

1  *  Silver,  sir, "  returned  the  captain ;  "  he's  as  anxious  as 
you  and  I  to  smother  things  up.  This  is  a  tiff;  he'd  soon 
talk  'em  out  of  it  if  he  had  the  chance,  and  what  I  propose 


HOW  MY  SHORE  ADVENTURE  BEGAN 

to  do  is  to  give  him  the  chance.  Let's  allow  the  men  an 
afternoon  ashore.  If  they  all  go,  why,  we'll  fight  the  ship. 
If  they  none  of  them  go,  well,  then,  we  hold  the  cabin,  and 
God  defend  the  right.  If  some  go,  you  mark  my  words, 
sir,  Silver  '11  bring  'em  aboard  again  as  mild  as  lambs." 

It  was  so  decided;  loaded  pistols  were  served  out 
to  all  the  sure  men ;  Hunter,  Joyce,  and  Redruth  were 
taken  into  our  confidence,  and  received  the  news  with 
less  surprise  and  a  better  spirit  than  we  had  looked  for,  and 
then  the  captain  went  on  deck  and  addressed  the  crew. 

"My  lads,"  said  he,  "we've  had  a  hot  day,  and  are 
all  tired  and  out  of  sorts.  A  turn  ashore  '11  hurt  nobody 
— the  boats  are  still  in  the  water;  you  can  take  the  gigs, 
and  as  many  as  please  may  go  ashore  for  the  afternoon. 
I'll  fire  a  gun  half  an  hour  before  sundown." 

I  believe  the  silly  fellows  must  have  thought  they 
would  break  their  shins  over  treasure  as  soon  as  they 
were  landed ;  for  they  all  came  out  of  their  sulks  in 
a  moment,  and  gave  a  cheer  that  started  the  echo  in  a 
far-away  hill,  and  sent  the  birds  once  more  flying  and 
squalling  round  the  anchorage. 

The  captain  was  too  bright  to  be  in  the  way.  He 
whipped  out  of  sight  in  a  moment,  leaving  Silver  to 
arrange  the  party ;  and  I  fancy  it  was  as  well  he  did  so. 
Had  he  been  on  deck,  he  could  no  longer  so  much  as 
have  pretended  not  to  understand  the  situation.  It  was 
as  plain  as  day.  Silver  was  the  captain,  and  a  mighty 
rebellious  crew  he  had  of  it.  The  honest  hands  —  and 
I  was  soon  to  see  it  proved  that  there  were  such  on 
board  —  must  have  been  very  stupid  fellows.  Or, 
rather,  I  suppose  the  truth  was  this,  that  all  hands  were 
disaffected  by  the  example  of  the  ringleaders — only 

IOI 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

some  more,  some  less ;  and  a  few,  being  good  fellows 
in  the  main,  could  neither  be  led  nor  driven  any  further. 
It  is  one  thing  to  be  idle  and  skulk,  and  quite  another 
to  take  a  ship  and  murder  a  number  of  innocent  men. 

At  last,  however,  the  party  was  made  up.  Six  fel- 
lows were  to  stay  on  board,  and  the  remaining  thirteen, 
including  Silver,  began  to  embark. 

Then  it  was  that  there  came  into  my  head  the  first  of 
the  mad  notions  that  contributed  so  much  to  save  our 
lives.  If  six  men  were  left  by  Silver,  it  was  plain  our 
party  could  not  take  and  fight  the  ship ;  and  since  only 
six  were  left,  it  was  equally  plain  that  the  cabin  party 
had  no  present  need  of  my  assistance.  It  occurred  to 
me  at  once  to  go  ashore.  In  a  jiffy  I  had  slipped  over 
the  side,  and  curled  up  in  the  fore-sheets  of  the  nearest 
boat,  and  almost  at  the  same  moment  she  shoved  off. 

No  one  took  notice  of  me,  only  the  bow  oar  saying, 
"Is  that  you,  Jim?  Keep  your  head  down."  But 
Silver,  from  the  other  boat,  looked  sharply  over  and 
called  out  to  know  if  that  were  me ;  and  from  that  mo- 
ment I  began  to  regret  what  I  had  done. 

The  crews  raced  for  the  beach ;  but  the  boat  I  was  in, 
having  some  start,  and  being  at  once  the  lighter  and  the 
better  manned,  shot  far  ahead  of  her  consort,  and  the 
bow  had  struck  among  the  shore-side  trees,  and  I  had 
caught  a  branch  and  swung  myself  out,  and  plunged 
into  the  nearest  thicket,  while  Silver  and  the  rest  were 
still  a  hundred  yards  behind. 

"Jim,  Jim!"  I  heard  him  shouting. 

But  you  may  suppose  I  paid  no  heed ;  jumping,  duck- 
ing, and  breaking  through,  I  ran  straight  before  my  nose, 
till  I  could  run  no  longer. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE   FIRST  BLOW 

I  was  so  pleased  at  having  given  the  slip  to  Long 
John,  that  I  began  to  enjoy  myself  and  look  around  me 
with  some  interest  on  the  strange  land  that  I  was  in. 

I  had  crossed  a  marshy  tract  full  of  willows,  bulrushes, 
and  odd,  outlandish,  swampy  trees ;  and  I  had  now  come 
out  upon  the  skirts  of  an  open  piece  of  undulating,  sandy 
country,  about  a  mile  long,  dotted  with  a  few  pines,  and 
a  great  number  of  contorted  trees,  not  unlike  the  oak 
in  growth,  but  pale  in  the  foliage,  like  willows.  On 
the  far  side  of  the  open  stood  one  of  the  hills,  with  two 
quaint,  craggy  peaks,  shining  vividly  in  the  sun. 

I  now  felt  for  the  first  time  the  joy  of  exploration. 
The  isle  was  uninhabited ;  my  shipmates  I  had  left  be- 
hind, and  nothing  lived  in  front  of  me  but  dumb  brutes 
and  fowls.  I  turned  hither  and  thither  among  the  trees. 
Here  and  there  were  flowering  plants,  unknown  to  me ; 
here  and  there  I  saw  snakes,  and  one  raised  his  head 
from  a  ledge  of  rock  and  hissed  at  me  with  a  noise  not 
unlike  the  spinning  of  a  top.  Little  did  I  suppose  that 
he  was  a  deadly  enemy,  and  that  the  noise  was  the 
famous  rattle. 

Then  I  came  to  a  long  thicket  of  these  oak-like  trees 
— live,  or  evergreen,  oaks,  I  heard  afterwards  they  should 

103 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

be  called  —  which  grew  low  along  the  sand  like  bram- 
bles,  the  boughs  curiously  twisted,  the  foliage  compact, 
like  thatch.  The  thicket  stretched  down  from  the  top 
of  one  of  the  sandy  knolls,  spreading  and  growing  taller 
as  it  went,  until  it  reached  the  margin  of  the  broad, 
reedy  fen,  through  which  the  nearest  of  the  little  rivers 
soaked  its  way  into  the  anchorage.  The  marsh  was 
steaming  in  the  strong  sun,  and  the  outline  of  the  Spy- 
glass trembled  through  the  haze. 

All  at  once  there  began  to  go  a -sort  of  bustle  among 
the  bulrushes ;  a  wild  duck  flew  up  with  a  quack,  an- 
other followed,  and  soon  over  the  whole  surface  of  the 
marsh  a  great  cloud  of  birds  hung  screaming  and  cir- 
cling in  the  air.  I  judged  at  once  that  some  of  my  ship- 
mates must  be  drawing  near  along  the  borders  of  the 
fen.  Nor  was  I  deceived ;  for  soon  I  heard  the  very  dis- 
tant and  low  tones  of  a  human  voice,  which,  as  I. con- 
tinued to  give  ear,  grew  steadily  louder  and  nearer. 

This  put  me  in  a  great  fear,  and  I  crawled  under  cover 
of  the  nearest  live-oak,  and  squatted  there,  hearkening, 
as  silent  as  a  mouse. 

Another  voice  answered;  and  then  the  first  voice, 
which  I  now  recognised  to  be  Silver's,  once  more  took 
up  the  story,  and  ran  on  for  a  long  while  in  a  stream, 
only  now  and  again  interrupted  by  the  other.  By  the 
sound  they  must  have  been  talking  earnestly,  and  al- 
most fiercely ;  but  no  distinct  word  came  to  my  hearing. 

At  last  the  speakers  seemed  to  have  paused,  and  per- 
haps to  have  sat  down ;  for  not  only  did  they  cease  to 
draw  any  nearer,  but  the  birds  themselves  began  to 
grow  more  quiet,  and  to  settle  again  to  their  places  in 
the  swamp. 

i  a* 


THE   FIRST  BLOW 

And  now  I  began  to  feel  that  I  was  neglecting  my 
business ;  that  since  I  had  been  so  foolhardy  as  to  come 
ashore  with  these  desperadoes,  the  least  I  could  do  was 
to  overhear  them  at  their  councils;  and  that  my  plain 
and  obvious  duty  was  to  draw  as  close  as  I  could  man- 
age, under  the  favourable  ambush  of  the  crouching  trees. 

I  could  tell  the  direction  of  the  speakers  pretty  exactly, 
not  only  by  the  sound  of  their  voices,  but  by  the  be- 
haviour of  the  few  birds  that  still  hung  in  alarm  above 
the  heads  of  the  intruders. 

Crawling  on  all-fours,  I  made  steadily  but  slowly  to- 
wards them ;  till  at  last,  raising  my  head  to  an  aperture 
among  the  leaves,  I  could  see  clear  down  into  a  little 
green  dell  beside  the  marsh,  and  closely  set  about  with 
trees,  where  Long  John  Silver  and  another  of  the  crew 
stood  face  to  face  in  conversation. 

The  sun  beat  full  upon  them.  Silver  had  thrown  his 
hat  beside  him  on  the  ground,  and  his  great,  smooth, 
blond  face,  all  shining  with  heat,  was  lifted  to  the  other 
man's  in  a  kind  of  appeal. 

"Mate,"  he  was  saying,  "it's  because  I  thinks  gold 
dust  of  you — gold  dust,  and  you  may  lay  to  that!  If  I 
hadn't  took  to  you  like  pitch,  do  you  think  I'd  have  been 
here  a-warning  of  you  ?  All's  up — you  can't  make  nor 
mend;  it's  to  save  your  neck  that  I'm  a-speaking,  and 
if  one  of  the  wild  'uns  knew  it,  where  'ud  I  be,  Tom  — 
now,  tell  me,  where  'ud  I  be  ?  " 

'*  Silver,"  said  the  other  man  —  and  I  observed  he  was 
not  only  red  in  the  face,  but  spoke  as  hoarse  as  a  crow, 
and  his  voice  shook,  too,  like  a  taut  rope  —  "Silver," 
says  he,  "you're  old,  and  you're  honest,  or  has  the  name 
for  it;  and  yor've  money,  too,  which  lots  of  poor  sailors 

105 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

hasn't;  and  you're  brave,  or  I'm  mistook.  And  will  you 
tell  me  you'll  let  yourself  be  led  away  with  that  kind  of 
a  mess  of  swabs  ?  not  you !  As  sure  as  God  sees  me, 
I'd  sooner  lose  my  hand.    If  I  turn  agin  my  dooty " 

And  then  all  of  a  sudden  he  was  interrupted  by  a  noise. 
I  had  found  one  of  the  honest  hands — well,  here,  at  that 
same  moment,  came  news  of  another.  Far  away  out  in 
the  marsh  there  arose,  all  of  a  sudden,  a  sound  like  the 
cry  of  anger,  then  another  on  the  back  of  it;  and  then 
one  horrid,  long-drawn  scream.  The  rocks  of  the  Spy- 
glass re-echoed  it  a  score  of  times ;  the  whole  troop  of 
marsh-birds  rose  again,  darkening  heaven,  with  a  simul- 
taneous whirr;  and  long  after  that  death  yell  was  still 
ringing  in  my  brain,  silence  had  re-established  its  empire, 
and  only  the  rustle  of  the  redescending  birds  and  the 
boom  of  the  distant  surges  disturbed  the  languor  of  the 
afternoon. 

Tom  had  leaped  at  the  sound,  like  a  horse  at  the  spur; 
but  Silver  had  not  winked  an  eye.  He  stood  where  he 
was,  resting  lightly  on  his  crutch,  watching  his  com- 
panion like  a  snake  about  to  spring. 

"John! "  said  the  sailor,  stretching  out  his  hand. 

"  Hands  off! "  cried  Silver,  leaping  back  a  yard,  as  it 
seemed  to  me,  with  the  speed  and  security  of  a  trained 
gymnast. 

"  Hands  off,  if  you  like,  John  Silver,"  said  the  other. 
"  It's  a  black  conscience  that  can  make  you  feared  of  me. 
But,  in  heaven's  name,  tell  me  what  was  that  ?  " 

"That?"  returned  Silver,  smiling  away,  but  warier 
than  ever,  his  eye  a  mere  pin-point  in  his  big  face,  but 
gleaming  like  a  crumb  of  glass.  "  That  ?  Oh,  I  reckon 
that'll  be  Alan." 

106 


THE   FIRST  BLOW 

And  at  this  poor  Tom  flashed  out  like  a  hero. 

"Alan!"  he  cried.  "Then  rest  his  soul  for  a  true  sea- 
man !  And  as  for  you,  John  Silver,  long  you've  been  a 
mate  of  mine,  but  you're  mate  of  mine  no  more.  If  I 
die  like  a  dog,  I'll  die  in  my  dooty.  You've  killed  Alan, 
have  you  ?   Kill  me,  too,  if  you  can.    But  I  defies  you." 

And  with  that,  this  brave  fellow  turned  his  back 
directly  on  the  cook,  and  set  off  walking  for  the  beach. 
But  he  was  not  destined  to  go  far.  With  a  cry,  John 
seized  the  branch  of  a  tree,  whipped  the  crutch  out  of 
his  armpit,  and  sent  that  uncouth  missile  hurtling  through 
the  air.  It  struck  poor  Tom,  point  foremost,  and  with 
stunning  violence,  right  between  the  shoulders  in  the 
middle  of  his  back.  His  hands  flew  up,  he  gave  a  sort 
of  gasp,  and  fell. 

Whether  he  were  injured  much  or  little,  none  could 
ever  tell.  Like  enough,  to  judge  from  the  sound,  his 
back  was  broken  on  the  spot.  But  he  had  no  time 
given  him  to  recover.  Silver,  agile  as  a  monkey,  even 
without  leg  or  crutch,  was  on  the  top  of  him  next  mo- 
ment, and  had  twice  buried  his  knife  up  to  the  hilt  in 
that  defenceless  body.  From  my  place  of  ambush,  I 
could  hear  him  pant  aloud  as  he  struck  the  blows. 

I  do  not  know  what  it  rightly  is  to  faint,  but  I  do 
know  that  for  the  next  little  while  the  whole  world 
swam  away  from  before  me  in  a  whirling  mist;  Silver 
and  the  birds,  and  the  tall  Spy-glass  hilltop,  going 
round  and  round  and  topsy-turvy  before  my  eyes,  and 
all  manner  of  bells  ringing  and  distant  voices  shouting 
in  my  ear. 

When  I  came  again  to  myself,  the  monster  had  pulled 
himself  together,  his  crutch  under  his  arm,  his  hat  upon 

107 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

his  head.  Just  before  him  Tom  lay  motionless  upon 
the  sward;  but  the  murderer  minded  him  not  a  whit, 
cleansing  his  blood-stained  knife  the  while  upon  a  wisp 
of  grass.  Everything  else  was  unchanged,  the  sun  still 
shining  mercilessly  on  the  steaming  marsh  and  the  tall 
pinnacle  of  the  mountain,  and  I  could  scarce  persuade 
myself  that  murder  had  been  actually  done,  and  a  human 
life  cruelly  cut  short  a  moment  since,  before  my  eyes. 

But  now  John  put  his  hand  into  his  pocket,  brought 
out  a  whistle,  and  blew  upon  it  several  modulated  blasts, 
that  rang  far  across  the  heated  air.  I  could  not  tell,  of 
course,  the  meaning  of  the  signal ;  but  it  instantly  awoke 
my  fears.  More  men  would  be  coming.  I  might  be 
discovered.  They  had  already  slain  two  of  the  honest 
people ;  after  Tom  and  Alan,  might  not  I  come  next  ? 

Instantly  I  began  to  extricate  myself  and  crawl  back 
again,  with  what  speed  and  silence  I  could  manage,  to 
the  more  open  portion  of  the  wood.  As  I  did  so,  I 
could  hear  hails  coming  and  going  between  the  old 
buccaneer  and  his  comrades,  and  this  sound  of  danger 
lent  me  wings.  As  soon  as  I  was  clear  of  the  thicket, 
I  ran  as  I  never  ran  before,  scarce  minding  the  direction 
of  my  flight,  so  long  as  it  led  me  from  the  murderers ; 
and  as  I  ran,  fear  grew  and  grew  upon  me,  until  it  turned 
into  a  kind  of  frenzy. 

Indeed,  could  any  one  be  more  entirely  lost  than  I  ? 
When  the  gun  fired,  how  should  I  dare  to  go  down  to 
the  boats  among  those  fiends,  still  smoking  from  their 
crime  ?  Would  not  the  first  of  them  who  saw  me  wring 
my  neck  like  a  snipe's  ?  Would  not  my  absence  itself 
be  an  evidence  to  them  of  my  alarm,  and  therefore 
of  my  fatal  knowledge  ?    It  was  all  over,  I  thought. 

1 08 


THE   FIRST   BLOW 

Good-bye  to  the  Hispaniola;  good-bye  to  the  squire, 
the  doctor,  and  the  captain!  There  was  nothing  left 
for  me  but  death  by  starvation,  or  death  by  the  hands 
of  the  mutineers. 

All  this  while,  as  I  say,  I  was  still  running,  and,  with- 
out taking  any  notice,  I  had  drawn  near  to  the  foot  of 
the  little  hill  with  the  two  peaks,  and  had  got  into  a  part 
of  the  island  where  the  live-oaks  grew  more  widely  apart, 
and  seemed  more  like  forest  trees  in  their  bearing  and 
dimensions.  Mingled  with  these  were  a  few  scattered 
pines,  some  fifty,  some  nearer  seventy,  feet  high.  The 
air,  too,  smelt  more  freshly  than  down  beside  the  marsh. 

And  here  a  fresh  alarm  brought  me  to  a  standstill  with 
a  thumping  heart. 


109 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE  MAN   OF  THE  ISLAND 

From  the  side  of  the  hill,  which  was  here  steep  and 
stony,  a  spout  of  gravel  was  dislodged,  and  fell  rattling 
and  bounding  through  the  trees.  My  eyes  turned  in- 
stinctively in  that  direction,  and  I  saw  a  figure  leap  with 
great  rapidity  behind  the  trunk  of  a  pine.  What  it  was, 
whether  bear  or  man  or  monkey,  I  could  in  no  wise 
tell.  It  seemed  dark  and  shaggy;  more  I  knew  not. 
But  the  terror  of  this  new  apparition  brought  me  to  a 
stand. 

I  was  now,  it  seemed,  cut  off  upon  both  sides;  behind 
me  the  murderers,  before  me  this  lurking  nondescript. 
And  immediately  I  began  to  prefer  the  dangers  that  I 
knew  to  those  I  knew  not.  Silver  himself  appeared  less 
terrible  in  contrast  with  this  creature  of  the  woods,  and 
I  turned  on  my  heel,  and,  looking  sharply  behind  me 
over  my  shoulder,  began  to  retrace  my  steps  in  the  di- 
rection of  the  boats. 

Instantly  the  figure  reappeared,  and,  making  a  wide 
circuit,  began  to  head  me  off.  I  was  tired,  at  any  rate ; 
but  had  I  been  as  fresh  as  when  I  rose,  I  could  see  it 
was  in  vain  for  me  to  contend  in  speed  with  such  an 
adversary.  From  trunk  to  trunk  the  creature  flitted  like 
a  deer,  running  manlike  on  two  legs,  but  unlike  any 

no 


THE  MAN  OF  THE  ISLAND 

man  that  I  had  ever  seen,  stooping  almost  double  as  it 
ran.  Yet  a  man  it  was,  I  could  no  longer  be  in  doubt 
about  that. 

I  began  to  recall  what  I  had  heard  of  cannibals.  I 
was  within  an  ace  of  calling  for  help.  But  the  mere 
fact  that  he  was  a  man,  however  wild,  had  somewhat 
reassured  me,  and  my  fear  of  Silver  began  to  revive  in 
proportion.  I  stood  still,  therefore,  and  cast  about  for 
some  method  of  escape;  and  as  I  was  so  thinking,  the 
recollection  of  my  pistol  flashed  into  my  mind.  As  soon 
as  I  remembered  I  was  not  defenceless,  courage  glowed 
again  in  my  heart;  and  I  set  my  face  resolutely  for 
this  man  of  the  island,  and  walked  briskly  towards 
him. 

He  was  concealed,  by  this  time,  behind  another  tree 
trunk ;  but  he  must  have  been  watching  me  closely,  for 
as  soon  as  I  began  to  move  in  his  direction  he  reappeared 
and  took  a  step  to  meet  me.  Then  he  hesitated,  drew 
back,  came  forward  again,  and  at  last,  to  my  wonder  and 
confusion,  threw  himself  on  his  knees  and  held  out  his 
clasped  hands  in  supplication. 

At  that  I  once  more  stopped. 

"Who  are  you  ?"  I  asked. 

"Ben  Gunn,"  he  answered,  and  his  voice  sounded 
hoarse  and  awkward,  like  a  rusty  lock.  "I'm  poor 
Ben  Gunn,  I  am ;  and  I  haven't  spoke  with  a  Christian 
these  three  years." 

I  could  now  see  that  he  was  a  white  man  like  myself, 
and  that  his  features  were  even  pleasing.  His  skin, 
wherever  it  was  exposed,  was  burnt  by  the  sun ;  even 
his  lips  were  black,  and  his  fair  eyes  looked  quite 
startling  in  so  dark  a  face.     Of  all  the  beggar-men 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

that  I  had  seen  or  fancied,  he  was  the  chief  for  ragged- 
ness.  He  was  clothed  with  tatters  of  old  ship's  canvas 
and  old  sea  cloth;  and  this  extraordinary  patchwork 
was  all  held  together  by  a  system  of  the  most  various 
and  incongruous  fastenings,  brass  buttons,  bits  of  stick, 
and  loops  of  tarry  gaskin.  About  his  waist  he  wore 
an  old  brass-buckled  leather  belt,  which  was  the  one 
thing  solid  in  his  whole  accoutrement. 

"Three  years!"  I  cried.    "Were  you  shipwrecked?" 

"Nay,  mate,"  said  he — "marooned." 

I  had  heard  the  word,  and  I  knew  it  stood  for  a 
horrible  kind  of  punishment  common  enough  among  the 
buccaneers,  in  which  the  offender  is  put  ashore  with  a 
little  powder  and  shot,  and  left  behind  on  some  desolate 
and  distant  island. 

"Marooned  three  years  agone,"  he  continued,  "and 
lived  on  goats  since  then,  and  berries,  and  oysters. 
Wherever  a  man  is,  says  I,  a  man  can  do  for  himself. 
But,  mate,  my  heart  is  sore  for  Christian  diet.  You 
mightn't  happen  to  have  a  piece  of  cheese  about  you, 
now  ?  No  ?  Well,  many's  the  long  night  I've  dreamed 
of  cheese  —  toasted,  mostly  —  and  woke  up  again,  and 
here  I  were." 

"If  ever  I  can  get  aboard  again,"  said  I,  "you  shall 
have  cheese  by  the  stone." 

All  this  time  he  had  been  feeling  the  stuff  of  my  jacket, 
smoothing  my  hands,  looking  at  my  boots,  and  gen- 
erally, in  the  intervals  of  his  speech,  showing  a  childish 
pleasure  in  the  presence  of  a  fellow-creature.  But  at  my 
last  words  he  perked  up  into  a  kind  of  startled  slyness. 

"  If  ever  you  can  get  aboard  again,  says  you  ?  "  he  re- 
peated.    "Why,  now,  who's  to  hinder  you?" 


THE  MAN  OF  THE   ISLAND 

"Not  you,  I  know,"  was  my  reply. 

"And  right  you  was,"  he  cried.  "Now  you — what 
do  you  call  yourself,  mate  ?" 

"Jim,"  I  told  him. 

"Jim,  Jim, "  says  he,  quite  pleased  apparently.  ' '  Well, 
now,  Jim,  I've  lived  that  rough  as  you'd  be  ashamed  to 
hear  of.  Now,  for  instance,  you  wouldn't  think  I  had 
had  a  pious  mother  —  to  look  at  me?"  he  asked. 

"Why,  no,  not  in  particular,"  I  answered. 

"Ah,  well,"  said  he,  "but  I  had  —  remarkable  pious. 
And  I  was  a  civil,  pious  boy,  and  could  rattle  off  my 
catechism  that  fast,  as  you  couldn't  tell  one  word  from 
another.  And  here's  what  it  come  to,  Jim,  and  it  be- 
gun with  chuck-farthen  on  the  blessed  grave-stones! 
That's  what  it  begun  with,  but  it  went  further'n  that; 
and  so  my  mother  told  me,  and  predicked  the  whole, 
she  did,  the  pious  woman!  But  it  were  Providence 
that  put  me  here.  I've  thought  it  all  out  in  this  here 
lonely  island,  and  I'm  back  on  piety.  You  don't  catch 
me  tasting  rum  so  much ;  but  just  a  thimbleful  for  luck, 
of  course,  the  first  chance  I  have.  I'm  bound  I'll  be 
good,  and  I  see  the  way  to.  And,  Jim"  —  looking  all 
round  him,  and  lowering  his  voice  to  a  whisper —  "I'm 
rich." 

I  now  felt  sure  that  the  poor  fellow  had  gone  crazy 
in  his  solitude,  and  I  suppose  I  must  have  shown  the 
feeling  in  my  face;  for  he  repeated  the  statement 
hotly:  — 

"Rich!  rich!  I  says.  And  I'll  tell  you  what:  I'll 
make  a  man  of  you,  Jim.  Ah,  Jim,  you'll  bless  your 
stars,  you  will,  you  was  the  first  that  found  me!  " 

And  at  this  there  came  suddenly  a  lowering  shadow 
113 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

over  his  face,  and  he  tightened  his  grasp  upon  my  hand, 
and  raised  a  forefinger  threateningly  before  my  eyes. 

"Now,  Jim,  you  tell  me  true :  that  ain't  Flint's  ship  ? " 
he  asked. 

At  this  I  had  a  happy  inspiration.  I  began  to  believe 
that  I  had  found  an  ally,  and  I  answered  him  at  once. 

"It's  not  Flint's  ship,  and  Flint  is  dead;  but  I'll  tell 
you  true,  as  you  ask  me — there  are  some  of  Flint's  hands 
aboard;  worse  luck  for  the  rest  of  us." 

' '  Not  a  man  —  with  one  —  leg  ?  "  he  gasped. 

"Silver?"  I  asked. 

"Ah,  Silver!"  says  he;  "that  were  his  name." 

"He's  the  cook;  and  the  ringleader,  too." 

He  was  still  holding  me  by  the  wrist,  and  at  that  he 
gave  it  quite  a  wring. 

"If  you  was  sent  by  Long  John,"  he  said,  "I'm  as 
good  as  pork,  and  I  know  it.  But  where  was  you,  do 
you  suppose?" 

I  had  made  my  mind  up  in  a  moment,  and  by  way  of 
answer  told  him  the  whole  story  of  our  voyage,  and  the 
predicament  in  which  we  found  ourselves.  He  heard 
me  with  the  keenest  interest,  and  when  I  had  done  he 
patted  me  on  the  head. 

"You're  a  good  lad,  Jim,"  he  said;  "and  you're  all 
in  a  clove  hitch,  ain't  you  ?  Well,  you  just  put  your 
trust  in  Ben  Gunn  —  Ben  Gunn's  the  man  to  do  it. 
Would  you  think  it  likely,  now,  that  your  squire  would 
prove  a  liberal-minded  one  in  case  of  help  —  him  being 
in  a  clove  hitch,  as  you  remark  ?  " 

I  told  him  the  squire  was  the  most  liberal  of  men. 

"Ay,  but  you  see,"  returned  Ben  Gunn,  "I  didn't 
mean  giving  me  a  gate  to  keep,  and  a  shuit  of  livery 

114 


THE  MAN  OF  THE  ISLAND 

clothes,  and  such;  that's  not  my  mark,  Jim.  What  I 
mean  is,  would  he  be  likely  to  come  down  to  the  toon 
of,  say  one  thousand  pounds  out  of  money  that's  as  good 
as  a  man's  own  already  ?  " 

"  I  am  sure  he  would,"  said  I.  "As  it  was,  all  hands 
were  to  share." 

"And  a  passage  home  ?"  he  added,  with  a  look  of 
great  shrewdness. 

"Why,"  I  cried,  "the  squire's  a  gentleman.  And 
besides,  if  we  got  rid  of  the  others,  we  should  want  you 
to  help  work  the  vessel  home." 

"Ah,"  said  he,  "so  you  would."  And  he  seemed 
very  much  relieved. 

"Now,  I'll  tell  you  what,"  he  went  on.  "So  much 
I'll  tell  you,  and  no  more.  I  were  in  Flint's  ship  when 
he  buried  the  treasure;  he  and  six  along  —  six  strong 
seamen.  They  was  ashore  nigh  on  a  week,  and  us 
standing  off  and  on  in  the  old  Walrus.  One  fine  day 
up  went  the  signal,  and  here  come  Flint  by  himself  in  a 
little  boat,  and  his  head  done  up  in  a  blue  scarf.  The 
sun  was  getting  up,  and  mortal  white  he  looked  about 
the  cutwater.  But,  there  he  was,  you  mind,  and  the 
six  all  dead  —  dead  and  buried.  How  he  done  it,  not  a 
man  aboard  us  could  make  out.  It  was  battle,  murder, 
and  sudden  death,  leastways  —  him  against  six.  Billy 
Bones  was  the  mate;  Long  John,  he  was  quartermaster; 
and  they  asked  him  where  the  treasure  was.  'Ah,'  says 
he,  'you  can  go  ashore,  if  you  like,  and  stay,'  he  says; 
1  but  as  for  the  ship,  she'll  beat  up  for  more,  by  thunder ! ' 
That's  what  he  said. 

"Well,  I  was  in  another  ship  three  years  back,  and 
we  sighted  this  island.     'Boys,'  said  I,  'here's  Flint's 

115 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

treasure;  let's  land  and  find  it'  The  cap'n  was  dis- 
pleased at  that ;  but  my  messmates  were  all  of  a  mind, 
and  landed.  Twelve  days  they  looked  for  it,  and  every 
day  they  had  the  worse  word  for  me,  until  one  fine 
morning  all  hands  went  aboard.  'As  for  you,  Benjamin 
Gunn,'  says  they,  'here's  a  musket,'  they  says,  'and  a 
spade,  and  pickaxe.  You  can  stay  here,  and  find  Flint's 
money  for  yourself, '  they  says. 

"  Well,  Jim,  three  years  have  I  been  here,  and  not  a 
bite  of  Christian  diet  from  that  day  to  this.  But  now, 
you  look  here;  look  at  me.  Do  I  look  like  a  man  be- 
fore the  mast  ?  No,  says  you.  Nor  I  weren't,  neither, 
I  says." 

And  with  that  he  winked  and  pinched  me  hard. 

"Just  you  mention  them  words  to  your  squire,  Jim  " 
—  he  went  on:  "Nor  he  weren't,  neither — that's  the 
words.  Three  years  he  were  the  man  of  this  island, 
light  and  dark,  fair  and  rain ;  and  sometimes  he  would, 
maybe,  think  upon  a  prayer  (says  you),  and  sometimes 
he  would,  maybe,  think  of  his  old  mother,  so  be  as  she's 
alive  (you'll  say) ;  but  the  most  part  of  Gunn's  time  (this 
is  what  you'll  say) — the  most  part  of  his  time  was  took 
up  with  another  matter.  And  then  you'll  give  him  a 
nip,  like  I  do." 

And  he  pinched  me  again  in  the  most  confidential 
manner. 

"Then,"  he  continued — "then  you'll  up,  and  you'll 
say  this :  —  Gunn  is  a  good  man  (you'll  say),  and  he  puts 
a  precious  sight  more  confidence  —  a  precious  sight, 
mind  that  —  in  a  gen'leman  born  than  in  these  gen'le- 
men  of  fortune,  having  been  one  hisself." 

"Well,"  I  said,  "I  don't  understand  one  word  that 

116 


THE  MAN   OF  THE   ISLAND 

you've  been  saying.     But  that's  neither  here  nor  there-, 
for  how  am  I  to  get  on  board  ?  " 

"Ah,"  said  he,  "that's  the  hitch,  for  sure.  Well, 
there's  my  boat,  that  I  made  with  my  two  hands.  1 
keep  her  under  the  white  rock.  If  the  worst  come  to 
the  worst,  we  might  try  that  after  dark.  Hi ! "  he  broke 
out,  "what's  that?" 

For  just  then,  although  the  sun  had  still  an  hour  or 
two  to  run,  all  the  echoes  of  the  island  awoke  and  bel- 
lowed to  the  thunder  of  a  cannon. 

' '  They  have  begun  to  fight ! "  I  cried.     ■ '  Follow  me. " 

And  I  began  to  run  towards  the  anchorage,  my  ter- 
rors all  forgotten ;  while,  close  at  my  side,  the  marooned 
man  in  his  goatskins  trotted  easily  and  lightly. 

"Left,  left,"  says  he;  "keep  to  your  left  hand,  mate 
Jim !  Under  the  trees  with  you !  Theer's  where  I  killed 
my  first  goat.  They  don't  come  down  here  now; 
they're  all  mastheaded  on  them  mountings  for  the  fear  of 
Benjamin  Gunn.  Ah !  and  there's  the  cetemery  " — cem- 
etery, he  must  have  meant.  "You  see  the  mounds?  I 
come  here  and  prayed,  nows  and  thens,  when  I  thought 
maybe  a  Sunday  would  be  about  doo.  It  weren't  quite 
a  chapel,  but  it  seemed  more  solemn  like;  and  then, 
says  you,  Ben  Gunn  was  short-handed  —  no  chapling, 
nor  so  much  as  a  Bible  and  a  flag,  you  says." 

So  he  kept  talking  as  I  ran,  neither  expecting  nor  re- 
ceiving any  answer. 

The  cannon-shot  was  followed,  after  a  considerable 
interval,  by  a  volley  of  small  arms. 

Another  pause,  and  then,  not  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in 
front  of  me,  I  beheld  the  Union  Jack  flutter  in  the  air 
above  a  wood. 

117 


PART  IV 

THE  STOCKADE 


CHAPTER  XVI 

NARRATIVE    CONTINUED    BY    THE   DOCTOR!    HOW    THE    SHIP 
WAS    ABANDONED 

IT  was  about  half-past  one  —  three  bells  in  the  sea 
phrase — that  the  two  boats  went  ashore  from  the 
Hispaniola.  The  captain,  the  squire,  and  I  were  talking 
matters  over  in  the  cabin.  Had  there  been  a  breath  of 
wind,  we  should  have  fallen  on  the  six  mutineers  who 
were  left  aboard  with  us,  slipped  our  cable,  and  away 
to  sea.  But  the  wind  was  wanting;  and,  to  complete 
our  helplessness,  down  came  Hunter  with  the  news  that 
Jim  Hawkins  had  slipped  into  a  boat  and  was  gone 
ashore  with  the  rest. 

It  never  occurred  to  us  to  doubt  Jim  Hawkins;  but 
we  were  alarmed  for  his  safety.  With  the  men  in  the 
temper  they  were  in,  it  seemed  an  even  chance  if  we 
should  see  the  lad  again.  We  ran  on  deck.  The  pitch 
was  bubbling  in  the  seams ;  the  nasty  stench  of  the  place 
turned  me  sick ;  if  ever  a  man  smelt  fever  and  dysentery, 
it  was  in  that  abominable  anchorage.  The  six  scoun- 
drels were  sitting  grumbling  under  a  sail  in  the  fore- 
castle ;  ashore  we  could  see  the  gigs  made  fast,  and  a 
man  sitting  in  each,  hard  by  where  the  river  runs  in. 
One  of  them  was  whistling  "Lillibullero." 

Waiting  was  a  strain ;  and  it  was  decided  that  Hunter 
and  I  should  go  ashore  with  the  jolly-boat  in  quest  of 
information. 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

The  gigs  had  leaned  to  their  right;  but  Hunter  and  I 
pulled  straight  in,  in  the  direction  of  the  stockade  upon 
the  chart.  The  two  who  were  left  guarding  their  boats 
seemed  in  a  bustle  at  our  appearance;  "Lillibullero" 
stopped  off,  and  I  could  see  the  pair  discussing  what 
they  ought  to  do.  Had  they  gone  and  told  Silver,  all 
might  have  turned  out  differently ;  but  they  had  their 
orders,  I  suppose,  and  decided  to  sit  quietly  where  they 
were  and  hark  back  again  to  "  Lillibullero." 

There  was  a  slight  bend  in  the  coast,  and  I  steered  so 
as  to  put  it  between  us ;  even  before  we  landed  we  had 
thus  lost  sight  of  the  gigs.  I  jumped  out  and  came  as 
near  running  as  I  durst,  with  a  big  silk  handkerchief 
under  my  hat  for  coolness'  sake,  and  a  brace  of  pistols 
ready  primed  for  safety. 

I  had  not  gone  a  hundred  yards  when  I  reached  the 
stockade. 

This  was  how  it  was :  a  spring  of  clear  water  rose 
almost  at  the  top  of  a  knoll.  Well,  on  the  knoll,  and 
enclosing  the  spring,  they  had  clapped  a  stout  log- 
house,  fit  to  hold  two  score  of  people  on  a  pinch,  and 
loopholed  for  musketry  on  every  side.  All  round  this 
they  had  cleared  a  wide  space,  and  then  the  thing  was 
completed  by  a  paling  six  feet  high,  without  door  or 
opening,  too  strong  to  pull  down  without  time  and 
labour,  and  too  open  to  shelter  the  besiegers.  The  peo- 
ple in  the  log-house  had  them  in  every  way ;  they  stood 
quiet  in  shelter  and  shot  the  others  like  partridges.  All 
they  wanted  was  a  good  watch  and  food ;  for,  short  of 
a  complete  surprise,  they  might  have  held  the  place 
against  a  regiment. 

What  particularly  took  my  fancy  was  the  spring. 


HOW  THE  SHIP  WAS  ABANDONED 

For,  though  we  had  a  good  enough  place  of  it  in  the 
cabin  of  the  Hispanwla,  with  plenty  of  arms  and  ammu- 
nition, and  things  to  eat,  and  excellent  wines,  there  had 
been  one  thing  overlooked  —  we  had  no  water.  I  was 
thinking  this  over,  when  there  came  ringing  over  the 
island  the  cry  of  a  man  at  the  point  of  death.  I  was 
not  new  to  violent  death  —  I  have  served  his  Royal 
Highness  the  Duke  of  Cumberland,  and  got  a  wound 
myself  at  Fontenoy  —  but  I  know  my  pulse  went  dot 
and  carry  one.  "Jim  Hawkins  is  gone,"  was  my  first 
thought. 

It  is  something  to  have  been  an  old  soldier,  but  more 
still  to  have  been  a  doctor.  There  is  no  time  to  dilly- 
dally in  our  work.  And  so  now  I  made  up  my  mind 
instantly,  and  with  no  time  lost  returned  to  the  shore, 
and  jumped  on  board  the  jolly-boat. 

By  good  fortune  Hunter  pulled  a  good  oar.  We  made 
the  water  fly ;  and  the  boat  was  soon  alongside,  and  I 
aboard  the  schooner. 

I  found  them  all  shaken,  as  was  natural.  The  squire 
was  sitting  down,  as  white  as  a  sheet,  thinking  of  the 
harm  he  had  led  us  to,  the  good  soull  and  one  of  the  six 
forecastle  hands  was  little  better. 

"There's  a  man,"  says  Captain  Smollett,  nodding 
towards  him,  "new  to  this  work.  He  came  nigh-hand 
fainting,  doctor,  when  he  heard  the  cry.  Another  touch 
of  the  rudder  and  that  man  would  join  us." 

I  told  my  plan  to  the  captain,  and  between  us  we 
settled  on  the  details  of  its  accomplishment. 

We  put  old  Redruth  in  the  gallery  between  the  cabin 
and  the  forecastle,  with  three  or  four  loaded  muskets 
and  a  mattress  for  protection.    Hunter  brought  the  boat 

123 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

round  under  the  stern-port,  and  Joyce  and  I  set  to  work 
loading  her  with  powder-tins,  muskets,  bags  of  biscuits, 
kegs  of  pork,  a  cask  of  cognac,  and  my  invaluable  medi- 
cine-chest. 

In  the  meantime,  the  squire  and  the  captain  stayed  on 
deck,  and  the  latter  hailed  the  coxswain,  who  was  the 
principal  man  aboard. 

"Mr.  Hands,"  he  said,  "here  are  two  of  us  with  a 
brace  of  pistols  each.  If  any  one  of  you  six  makes 
a  signal  of  any  description,  that  man's  dead." 

They  were  a  good  deal  taken  aback ;  and,  after  a  little 
consultation,  one  and  all  tumbled  down  the  fore  com- 
panion, thinking,  no  doubt,  to  take  us  on  the  rear.  But 
when  they  saw  Redruth  waiting  for  them  in  the  sparred 
gallery,  they  went  about  ship  at  once,  and  a  head  popped 
out  again  on  deck. 

" Down,  dog! "  cries  the  captain. 

And  the  head  popped  back  again ;  and  we  heard  no 
more,  for  the  time,  of  these  six  very  faint-hearted  seamen. 

By  this  time,  tumbling  things  in  as  they  came,  we  had 
the  jolly-boat  loaded  as  much  as  we  dared.  Joyce  and 
I  got  out  through  the  stern-port,  and  we  made  for  shore 
again,  as  fast  as  oars  could  take  us. 

This  second  trip  fairly  aroused  the  watchers  along 
shore.  "Lillibullero"  was  dropped  again;  and  just 
before  we  lost  sight  of  them  behind  the  little  point,  one 
of  them  whipped  ashore  and  disappeared.  I  had  half  a 
mind  to  change  my  plan  and  destroy  their  boats,  but  I 
feared  that  Silver  and  the  others  might  be  close  at  hand, 
and  all  might  very  well  be  lost  by  trying  for  too  much. 

We  had  soon  touched  land  in  the  same  place  as  before, 
and  set  to  provision  the  block  house.     All  three  made 

124 


HOW  THE  SHIP  WAS  ABANDONED 

the  first  journey,  heavily  laden,  and  tossed  our  stores 
over  the  palisade.  Then,  leaving  Joyce  to  guard  them 
—  one  man,  to  be  sure,  but  with  half  a  dozen  muskets  — 
Hunter  and  I  returned  to  the  jolly-boat,  and  loaded  our- 
selves once  more.  So  we  proceeded  without  pausing 
to  take  breath,  till  the  whole  cargo  was  bestowed,  when 
the  two  servants  took  up  their  position  in  the  block 
house,  and  I,  with  all  my  power,  sculled  back  to  the 
Hispaniola. 

That  we  should  have  risked  a  second  boat-load  seems 
more  daring  than  it  really  was.  They  had  the  advan- 
tage of  numbers,  of  course,  but  we  had  the  advantage 
of  arms.  Not  one  of  the  men  ashore  had  a  musket,  and 
before  they  could  get  within  range  for  pistol  shooting, 
we  flattered  ourselves  we  should  be  able  to  give  a  good 
account  of  a  half-dozen  at  least. 

The  squire  was  waiting  for  me  at  the  stern  window, 
all  his  faintness  gone  from  him.  He  caught  the  painter 
and  made  it  fast,  and  we  fell  to  loading  the  boat  for  our 
very  lives.  Pork,  powder,  and  biscuit  was  the  cargo, 
with  only  a  musket  and  a  cutlass  apiece  for  the  squire 
and  me  and  Redruth  and  the  captain.  The  rest  of  the 
arms  and  powder  we  dropped  overboard  in  two  fathoms 
and  a  half  of  water,  so  that  we  could  see  the  bright  steel 
shining  far  below  us  in  the  sun,  on  the  clean,  sandy 
bottom. 

By  this  time  the  tide  was  beginning  to  ebb,  and  the 
ship  was  swinging  round  to  her  anchor.  Voices  were 
heard  faintly  halloaing  in  the  direction  of  the  two  gigs ; 
and  though  this  reassured  us  for  Joyce  and  Hunter,  who 
were  well  to  the  eastward,  it  warned  our  party  to  be  off. 

Redruth  retreated  from  his  place  in  the  gallery,  and 
125 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

dropped  into  the  boat,  which  we  then  brought  round  to 
the  ship's  counter,  to  be  handier  for  Captain  Smollett. 

"Now,  men,"  said  he,  " do  you  hear  me ? " 

There  was  no  answer  from  the  forecastle. 

"  It's  to  you,  Abraham  Gray  —  it's  to  you  I  am  speak- 
ing. 

Still  no  reply. 

"  Gray,"  resumed  Mr.  Smollett,  a  little  louder,  "  I  am 
leaving  this  ship,  and  I  order  you  to  follow  your  captain. 
I  know  you  are  a  good  man  at  bottom,  and  I  daresay 
not  one  of  the  lot  of  you's  as  bad  as  he  makes  out.  I 
have  my  watch  here  in  my  hand ;  I  give  you  thirty  sec- 
onds to  join  me  in." 

There  was  a  pause. 

"Come,  my  fine  fellow,"  continued  the  captain, 
"  don't  hang  so  long  in  stays.  I'm  risking  my  life,  and 
the  lives  of  these  good  gentlemen,  every  second." 

There  was  a  sudden  scuffle,  a  sound  of  blows,  and 
out  burst  Abraham  Gray  with  a  knife-cut  on  the  side  of 
the  cheek,  and  came  running  to  the  captain,  like  a  dog 
to  the  whistle. 

"I'm  with  you,  sir,"  said  he. 

And  the  next  moment  he  and  the  captain  had  dropped 
aboard  of  us,  and  we  had  shoved  off  and  given  way. 

We  were  clear  out  of  the  ship ;  but  not  yet  ashore  in 
our  stockade. 


126 


CHAPTER  XVII 

NARRATIVE  CONTINUED  BY  THE  DOCTOR:  THE  JOLLY- 
BOAT'S  LAST  TRIP 

This  fifth  trip  was  quite  different  from  any  of  the 
others.  In  the  first  place,  the  little  gallipot  of  a  boat 
that  we  were  in  was  gravely  overloaded.  Five  grown 
men,  and  three  of  them  —  Trelawney,  Redruth,  and  the 
captain  —  over  six  feet  high,  was  already  more  than  she 
was  meant  to  carry.  Add  to  that  the  powder,  pork, 
and  bread-bags.  The  gunwale  was  lipping  astern. 
Several  times  we  shipped  a  little  water,  and  my  breeches 
and  the  tails  of  my  coat  were  all  soaking  wet  before  we 
had  gone  a  hundred  yards. 

The  captain  made  us  trim  the  boat,  and  we  got  her 
to  lie  a  little  more  evenly.  AH  the  same,  we  were  afraid 
to  breathe. 

In  the  second  place,  the  ebb  was  now  making — a 
strong  rippling  current  running  westward  through  the 
basin,  and  then  south'ard  and  seaward  down  the  straits 
by  which  we  had  entered  in  the  morning.  Even  the 
ripples  were  a  danger  to  our  overloaded  craft;  but  the 
worst  of  it  was  that  we  were  swept  out  of  our  true 
course,  and  away  from  our  proper  landing-place  behind 
the  point.  If  we  let  the  current  have  its  way  we  should 
come  ashore  beside  the  gigs,  where  the  pirates  might 
appear  at  any  moment. 

127 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

"I  cannot  keep  her  head  for  the  stockade,  sir,"  said 
I  to  the  captain.  I  was  steering,  while  he  and  Redruth, 
two  fresh  men,  were  at  the  oars.  "The  tide  keeps 
washing  her  down.     Could  you  pull  a  little  stronger?" 

"Not  without  swamping  the  boat,"  said  he.  "You 
must  bear  up,  sir,  if  you  please — bear  up  until  you  see 
you're  gaining." 

I  tried,  and  found  by  experiment  that  the  tide  kept 
sweeping  us  westward  until  I  had  laid  her  head  due 
east,  or  just  about  right  angles  to  the  way  we  ought  to  go. 

"We'll  never  get  ashore  at  this  rate,"  said  I. 

"If  it's  the  only  course  that  we  can  lie,  sir,  we  must 
even  lie  it,"  returned  the  captain.  "  We  must  keep  up- 
stream. You  see,  sir, "  he  went  on,  ' '  if  once  we  dropped 
to  leeward  of  the  landing-place,  it's  hard  to  say  where  we 
should  get  ashore,  besides  the  chance  of  being  boarded 
by  the  gigs ;  whereas,  the  way  we  go  the  current  must 
slacken,  and  then  we  can  dodge  back  along  the  shore." 

"  The  current's  less  a'ready,  sir,"  said  the  man  Gray, 
who  was  sitting  in  the  fore-sheets  ;  "you  can  ease  her 
off  a  bit." 

"Thank  you,  my  man,"  said  I,  quite  as  if  nothing 
had  happened;  for  we  had  all  quietly  made  up  our 
minds  to  treat  him  like  one  of  ourselves. 

Suddenly  the  captain  spoke  up  again,  and  I  thought 
his  voice  was  a  little  changed. 

"The  gun!"  said  he. 

"I  have  thought  of  that,"  said  I,  for  I  made  sure  he 
was  thinking  of  a  bombardment  of  the  fort.  "They 
could  never  get  the  gun  ashore,  and  if  they  did,  they 
could  never  haul  it  through  the  woods." 

"Look  astern,  doctor,"  replied  the  captain. 
128 


THE  JOLLY-BOAT'S  LAST  TRIP 

We  had  entirely  forgotten  the  long  nine;  and  there, 
to  our  horror,  were  the  five  rogues  busy  about  her,  get- 
ting off  her  jacket,  as  they  called  the  stout  tarpaulin  cover 
under  which  she  sailed.  Not  only  that,  but  it  flashed 
into  my  mind  at  the  same  moment  that  the  round-shot 
and  the  powder  for  the  gun  had  been  left  behind,  and  a 
stroke  with  an  axe  would  put  it  all  into  the  possession 
of  the  evil  ones  aboard. 

"Israel  was  Flint's  gunner,"  said  Gray,  hoarsely. 

At  any  risk,  we  put  the  boat's  head  direct  for  the 
landing-place.  By  this  time  we  had  got  so  far  out  of 
the  run  of  the  current  that  we  kept  steerage  way  even 
at  our  necessarily  gentle  rate  of  rowing,  and  I  could  keep 
her  steady  for  the  goal.  But  the  worst  of  it  was,  that 
with  the  course  I  now  held,  we  turned  our  broadside 
instead  of  our  stern  to  the  Hi&paniola,  and  offered  a  tar- 
get like  a  barn  door. 

I  could  hear,  as  well  as  see,  that  brandy-faced  rascal, 
Israel  Hands,  plumping  down  a  round-shot  on  the  deck. 

"Who's  the  best  shot?"  asked  the  captain. 

"Mr.  Trelawney,  out  and  away,"  said  I. 

"  Mr.  Trelawney,  will  you  please  pick  me  off  one  of 
these  men,  sir?    Hands,  if  possible,"  said  the  captain. 

Trelawney  was  as  cool  as  steel.  He  looked  to  the 
priming  of  his  gun. 

"  Now,"  cried  the  captain,  "  easy  with  that  gun,  sir, 
or  you'll  swamp  the  boat.  All  hands  stand  by  to  trim 
her  when  he  aims." 

The  squire  raised  his  gun,  the  rowing  ceased,  and  we 
leaned  over  to  the  other  side  to  keep  the  balance,  and 
all  was  so  nicely  contrived  that  we  did  not  ship  a  drop. 

They  had  the  gun,  by  this  time,  slewed  round  upon 
129 


TREASURE   ISLAND 

the  swivel,  and  Hands,  who  was  at  the  muzzle  with  the 
rammer,  was,  in  consequence,  the  most  exposed.  How- 
ever, we  had  no  luck ;  for  just  as  Trelawney  fired,  down 
he  stooped,  the  ball  whistled  over  him,  and  it  was  one 
of  the  other  four  who  fell. 

The  cry  he  gave  was  echoed,  not  only  by  his  com- 
panions on  board,  but  by  a  great  number  of  voices  from 
the  shore,  and  looking  in  that  direction  I  saw  the  other 
pirates  trooping  out  from  among  the  trees  and  tumbling 
into  their  places  in  the  boats. 

"Here  come  the  gigs,  sir,"  said  I. 

"  Give  way  then,"  cried  the  captain.  "  We  mustn't 
mind  if  we  swamp  her  now.  If  we  can't  get  ashore, 
all's  up." 

"  Only  one  of  the  gigs  is  being  manned,  sir,"  I  added, 
"the  crew  of  the  other  most  likely  going  round  by 
shore  to  cut  us  off." 

"They'll  have  a  hot  run,  sir,"  returned  the  captain. 
"Jack  ashore,  you  know.  It's  not  them  I  mind;  it's  the 
round-shot.  Carpet  bowls!  My  lady's  maid  couldn't 
miss.  Tell  us,  squire,  when  you  see  the  match,  and 
we'll  hold  water." 

In  the  meanwhile  we  had  been  making  headway  at  a 
good  pace  for  a  boat  so  overloaded,  and  we  had  shipped 
but  little  water  in  the  process.  We  were  now  close  in ; 
thirty  or  forty  strokes  and  we  should  beach  her;  for  the 
ebb  had  already  disclosed  a  narrow  belt  of  sand  below 
the  clustering  trees.  The  gig  was  no  longer  to  be 
feared ;  the  little  point  had  already  concealed  it  from  our 
eyes.  The  ebb-tide,  which  had  so  cruelly  delayed  us, 
was  now  making  reparation,  and  delaying  our  assail- 
ants.    The  one  source  of  danger  was  the  gun. 

130 


THE  JOLLY-BOAT'S  LAST  TRIP 

"If  I  durst,"  said  the  captain,  "I'd  stop  and  pick  off 
another  man." 

But  it  was  plain  that  they  meant  nothing  should  de- 
lay their  shot.  They  had  never  so  much  as  looked  at 
their  fallen  comrade,  though  he  was  not  dead,  and  I 
could  see  him  trying  to  crawl  away. 

"Ready!"  cried  the  squire. 

"  Hold! "  cried  the  captain,  quick  as  an  echo. 

And  he  and  Redruth  backed  with  a  great  heave  that 
sent  her  stern»bodily  under  water.  The  report  fell  in  at 
the  same  instant  of  time.  This  was  the  first  that  Jim 
heard,  the  sound  of  the  squire's  shot  not  having  reached 
him.  Where  the  ball  passed,  not  one  of  us  precisely 
knew ;  but  I  fancy  it  must  have  been  over  our  heads, 
and  that  the  wind  of  it  may  have  contributed  to  our 
disaster. 

At  any  rate,  the  boat  sank  by  the  stern,  quite  gently, 
in  three  feet  of  water,  leaving  the  captain  and  myself, 
facing  each  other,  on  our  feet.  The  other  three  took 
complete  headers,  and  came  up  again,  drenched  and 
bubbling. 

So  far  there  was  no  great  harm.  No  lives  were  lost, 
and  we  could  wade  ashore  in  safety.  But  there  were 
all  our  stores  at  the  bottom,  and,  to  make  things  worse, 
only  two  guns  out  of  five  remained  in  a  state  for  ser- 
vice. Mine  I  had  snatched  from  my  knees  and  held 
over  my  head,  by  a  sort  of  instinct.  As  for  the  captain, 
he  had  carried  his  over  his  shoulder  by  a  bandoleer,  and, 
like  a  wise  man,  lock  uppermost.  The  other  three  had 
gone  down  with  the  boat. 

To  add  to  our  concern,  we  heard  voices  already  draw- 
ing near  us  in  the  woods  along  shore ;  and  we  had  not 

131 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

only  the  danger  of  being  cut  off  from  the  stockade  in 
our  half-crippled  state,  but  the  fear  before  us  whether, 
if  Hunter  and  Joyce  were  attacked  by  half  a  dozen,  they 
would  have  the  sense  and  conduct  to  stand  firm.  Hun- 
ter was  steady,  that  we  knew ;  Joyce  was  a  doubtful 
case  —  a  pleasant,  polite  man  for  a  valet,  and  to  brush 
one's  clothes,  but  not  entirely  fitted  for  a  man  of  war. 

With  all  this  in  our  minds,  we  waded  ashore  as  fast 
as  we  could,  leaving  behind  us  the  poor  jolly-boat,  and 
a  good  half  of  all  our  powder  and  provisions. 


13a 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

NARRATIVE   CONTINUED   BY   THE   DOCTOR!    END   OF   THE 
FIRST  DAY'S  FIGHTING 

We  made  our  best  speed  across  the  strip  of  wood  that 
now  divided  us  from  the  stockade ;  and  at  every  step 
we  took  the  voices  of  the  buccaneers  rang  nearer.  Soon 
we  could  hear  their  footfalls  as  they  ran,  and  the  cracking 
of  the  branches  as  they  breasted  across  a  bit  of  thicket. 

I  began  to  see  we  should  have  a  brush  for  it  in  ear- 
nest, and  looked  to  my  priming. 

' '  Captain, "  said  I,  ' '  Trelawney  is  the  dead  shot.  Give 
him  your  gun;  his  own  is  useless." 

They  exchanged  guns,  and  Trelawney,  silent  and  cool 
as  he  had  been  since  the  beginning  of  the  bustle,  hung 
a  moment  on  his  heel  to  see  that  all  was  fit  for  service. 
At  the  same  time,  observing  Gray  to  be  unarmed,  I 
handed  him  my  cutlass.  It  did  all  our  hearts  good  to 
see  him  spit  in  his  hand,  knit  his  brows,  and  make  the 
blade  sing  through  the  air.  It  was  plain  from  every  line 
of  his  body  that  our  new  hand  was  worth  his  salt. 

Forty  paces  farther  we  came  to  the  edge  of  the  wood 
and  saw  the  stockade  in  front  of  us.  We  struck  the  en- 
closure about  the  middle  of  the  south  side,  and,  almost 
at  the  same  time,  seven  mutineers  —  Job  Anderson,  the 
boatswain,  at  their  head  —  appeared  in  full  cry  at  the 
south-western  corner. 

»33  | 


TREASURE   ISLAND 

They  paused,  as  if  taken  aback ;  and  before  they  re- 
covered, not  only  the  squire  and  I,  but  Hunter  and  Joyce 
from  the  block  house,  had  time  to  fire.  The  four  shots 
came  in  rather  a  scattering  volley ;  but  they  did  the  busi- 
ness :  one  of  the  enemy  actually  fell,  and  the  rest,  with- 
out hesitation,  turned  and  plunged  into  the  trees. 

After  reloading,  we  walked  down  the  outside  of  the 
palisade  to  see  to  the  fallen  enemy.  He  was  stone  dead 
—  shot  through  the  heart. 

We  began  to  rejoice  over  our  good  success,  when  just 
at  that  moment  a  pistol  cracked  in  the  bush,  a  ball 
whistled  close  past  my  ear,  and  poor  Tom  Redruth 
stumbled  and  fell  his  length  on  the  ground.  Both  the 
squire  and  I  returned  the  shot;  but  as  we  had  nothing 
to  aim  at,  it  is  probable  we  only  wasted  powder.  Then 
we  reloaded,  and  turned  our  attention  to  poor  Tom. 

The  captain  and  Gray  were  already  examining  him ; 
and  I  saw  with  half  an  eye  that  all  was  over. 

I  believe  the  readiness  of  our  return  volley  had  scat- 
tered the  mutineers  once  more,  for  we  were  suffered 
without  further  molestation  to  get  the  poor  old  game- 
keeper hoisted  over  the  stockade,  and  carried,  groaning 
and  bleeding,  into  the  log-house. 

Poor  old  fellow,  he  had  not  uttered  one  word  of  sur- 
prise, complaint,  fear,  or  even  acquiescence,  from  the 
very  beginning  of  our  troubles  till  now,  when  we  had 
laid  him  down  in  the  log-house  to  die.  He  had  lain 
like  a  Trojan  behind  his  mattress  in  the  gallery ;  he  had 
followed  every  order  silently,  doggedly,  and  well;  he 
was  the  oldest  of  our  party  by  a  score  of  years ;  and 
now,  sullen,  old,  serviceable  servant,  it  was  he  that  was 
to  die. 

134 


END  OF  THE  FIRST  DAY'S   FIGHTING 

The  squire  dropped  down  beside  him  on  his  knees  and 
kissed  his  hand,  crying  like  a  child. 

"  Be  I  going,  doctor  ?  "  he  asked. 

"Tom,  my  man,"  said  I,  "you're  going  home." 

"  I  wish  I  had  had  a  lick  at  them  with  the  gun  first," 
he  replied. 

"Tom,"  said  the  squire,  "say  you  forgive  me,  won't 
you  ?  " 

"Would  that  be  respectful  like,  from  me  to  you, 
squire?"  was  the  answer.  "Howsoever,  so  be  it, 
amen ! " 

After  a  little  while  of  silence,  he  said  he  thought  some- 
body might  read  a  prayer.  "It's  the  custom,  sir,"  he 
added,  apologetically.  And  not  long  after,  without  an- 
other word,  he  passed  away. 

In  the  meantime  the  captain,  whom  I  had  observed  to 
be  wonderfully  swollen  about  the  chest  and  pockets,  had 
turned  out  a  great  many  various  stores — the  British  col- 
ours, a  Bible,  a  coil  of  stoutish  rope,  pen,  ink,  the  log- 
book, and  pounds  of  tobacco.  He  had  found  a  longish 
fir-tree  lying  felled  and  trimmed  in  the  enclosure,  and, 
with  the  help  of  Hunter,  he  had  set  it  up  at  the  corner 
of  the  log-house  where  the  trunks  crossed  and  made  an 
angle.  Then,  climbing  on  the  roof,  he  had  with  his  own 
hand  bent  and  run  up  the  colours. 

This  seemed  mightily  to  relieve  him.  He  re-entered 
the  log-house,  and  set  about  counting  up  the  stores,  as 
if  nothing  else  existed.  But  he  had  an  eye  on  Tom's 
passage  for  all  that;  and  as  soon  as  all  was  over,  came 
forward  with  another  flag,  and  reverently  spread  it  on 
the  body. 

"Don't  you  take  on,  sir,"  he  said,  shaking  the  squire's 
135 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

hand.  ''All's  well  with  him;  no  fear  for  a  hand  that's 
been  shot  down  in  his  duty  to  captain  and  owner.  It 
mayn't  be  good  divinity,  but  it's  a  fact." 

Then  he  pulled  me  aside. 

"Dr.  Livesey,"  he  said,  "in  how  many  weeks  do 
you  and  squire  expect  the  consort  ?  " 

I  told  him  it  was  a  question,  not  of  weeks,  but  of 
months ;  that  if  we  were  not  back  by  the  end  of  August, 
Blandly  was  to  send  to  find  us ;  but  neither  sooner  nor 
later.     "You  can  calculate  for  yourself,"  I  said. 

"Why,  yes,"  returned  the  captain,  scratching  his 
head,  "and  making  a  large  allowance,  sir,  for  all  the 
gifts  of  Providence,  I  should  say  we  were  pretty  close 
hauled." 

"How  do  you  mean  ?"  I  asked. 

"  It's  a  pity,  sir,  we  lost  that  second  load.  That's 
what  I  mean,"  replied  the  captain.  "As  for  powder 
and  shot,  we'll  do.  But  the  rations  are  short,  very 
short — so  short,  Doctor  Livesey,  that  we're,  perhaps, 
as  well  without  that  extra  mouth." 

And  he  pointed  to  the  dead  body' under  the  flag. 

Just  then,  with  a  roar  and  a  whistle,  a  round-shot 
passed  high  above  the  roof  of  the  log-house  and  plumped 
far  beyond  us  in  the  wood. 

"Oho!"  said  the  captain.  "Blaze  away!  You've 
little  enough  powder  already,  my  lads." 

At  the  second  trial,  the  aim  was  better,  and  the  ball 
descended  inside  the  stockade,  scattering  a  cloud  of  sand, 
but  doing  no  further  damage. 

"Captain,"  said  the  squire,  "the  house  is  quite  in- 
visible from  the  ship.  It  must  be  the  flag  they  are  aim- 
ing at.    Would  it  not  be  wiser  to  take  it  in  ?  " 

136 


END  OF  THE  FIRST  DAY'S  FIGHTING 

"Strike  my  colours!"  cried  the  captain.  "No,  sir, 
not  I ; "  and,  as  soon  as  he  had  said  the  words,  I  think 
we  all  agreed  with  him.  For  it  was  not  only  a  piece 
of  stout,  seamanly,  good  feeling;  it  was  good  policy 
besides,  and  showed  our  enemies  that  we  despised  their 
cannonade. 

All  through  the  evening  they  kept  thundering  away. 
Ball  after  ball  flew  over  or  fell  short,  or  kicked  up  the 
sand  in  the  enclosure;  but  they  had  to  fire  so  high  that 
the  shot  fell  dead  and  buried  itself  in  the  soft  sand.  We 
had  no  ricochet  to  fear;  and  though  one  popped  in 
through  the  roof  of  the  log-house  and  out  again  through 
the  floor,  we  soon  got  used  to  that  sort  of  horse-play, 
and  minded  it  no  more  than  cricket. 

"There  is  one  thing  good  about  all  this,"  observed 
the  captain:  "the  wood  in  front  of  us  is  likely  clear. 
The  ebb  has  made  a  good  while;  our  stores  should  be 
uncovered.     Volunteers  to  go  and  bring  in  pork." 

Gray  and  Hunter  were  the  first  to  come  forward. 
Well  armed,  they  stole  out  of  the  stockade;  but  it 
proved  a  useless  mission.  The  mutineers  were  bolder 
than  we  fancied,  or  they  put  more  trust  in  Israel's  gun- 
nery. For  four  or  five  of  them  were  busy  carrying  off 
our  stores,  and  wading  out  with  them  to  one  of  the 
gigs  that  lay  close  by,  pulling  an  oar  or  so  to  hold  her 
steady  against  the  current.  Silver  was  in  the  stern- 
sheets  in  command ;  and  every  man  of  them  was  now 
provided  with  a  musket  from  some  secret  magazine  of 
their  own. 

The  captain  sat  down  to  his  log,  and  here  is  the  be- 
ginning of  the  entry :  — 

"Alexander  Smollett,  master;  David  Livesey,  ship's 
137 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

doctor;  Abraham  Gray,  carpenter's  mate ;  JohnTrelaw- 
ney,  owner;  John  Hunter  and  Richard  Joyce,  owner's 
servants,  landsmen  —  being  all  that  is  left  faithful  of  the 
ship's  company — with  stores  for  ten  days  at  short  ra- 
tions, came  ashore  this  day,  and  flew  British  colours  on 
the  log-house  in  Treasure  Island.  Thomas  Redruth, 
owner's  servant,  landsman,  shot  by  the  mutineers; 
James  Hawkins,  cabin-boy " 

And  at  the  same  time  I  was  wondering  over  poor  Jim 
Hawkins's  fate. 

A  hail  on  the  land  side. 

" Somebody  hailing  us,"  said  Hunter,  who  was  on 
guard. 

"Doctor!  squire!  captain!  Hullo,  Hunter,  is  that 
you  ?  "  came  the  cries. 

And  I  ran  to  the  door  in  time  to  see  Jim  Hawkins,  safe 
and  sound,  come  climbing  over  the  stockade. 


138 


CHAPTER  XIX 

NARRATIVE    RESUMED    BY   JIM    HAWKINS  I   THE  GARRISON   IN 
THE   STOCKADE 

As  soon  as  Ben  Gunn  saw  the  colours  he  came  to 
a  halt,  stopped  me  by  the  arm,  and  sat  down. 

" Now,"  said  he,  "there's your  friends,  sure  enough." 

M  Far  more  likely  it's  the  mutineers,"  I  answered. 

'*  That!  "  he  cried.  "Why,  in  a  place  like  this,  where 
nobody  puts  in  but  gen'lemen  of  fortune,  Silver  would 
fly  the  Jolly  Roger,  you  don't  make  no  doubt  of  that. 
No ;  that's  your  friends.  There's  been  blows,  too,  and 
I  reckon  your  friends  has  had  the  best  of  it;  and  here 
they  are  ashore  in  the  old  stockade,  as  was  made  years 
and  years  ago  by  Flint.  Ah,  he  was  the  man  to  have 
a  headpiece,  was  Flint!  Barring  rum,  his  match  were 
never  seen.  He  were  afraid  of  none,  not  he ;  on'y  Sil- 
ver —  Silver  was  that  genteel. " 

"Well,"  said  I,  "that  may  be  so,  and  so  be  it;  all 
the  more  reason  that  I  should  hurry  on  and  join  my 
friends." 

"Nay,  mate,"  returned  Ben,  "not  you.  You're  a 
good  boy,  or  I'm  mistook;  but  you're  on'y  a  boy,  all 
told.  Now,  Ben  Gunn  is  fly.  Rum  wouldn't  bring  me 
there,  where  you're  going — not  rum  wouldn't,  till  I  see 
your  born  gen'leman,  and  gets  it  on  his  word  of  hon- 
our.    And  you  won't  forget  my  words:    'A  precious 

139 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

sight  (that's  what  you'll  say),  a  precious  sight  more 
confidence  ' — and  then  nips  him." 

And  he  pinched  me  the  third  time  with  the  same  air 
of  cleverness. 

"And  when  Ben  Gunn  is  wanted,  you  know  where 
to  find  him,  Jim.  Just  wheer  you  found  him  to-day. 
And  him  that  comes  is  to  have  a  white  thing  in  his 
hand :  and  he's  to  come  alone.  Oh !  and  you'll  say  this : 
1  Ben  Gunn,'  says  you,  '  has  reasons  of  his  own.'  " 

"Well,"  said  I,  "I  believe  I  understand.  You  have 
something  to  propose,  and  you  wish  to  see  the  squire 
or  the  doctor;  and  you're  to  be  found  where  I  found 
you.     Is  that  all  ?  " 

"And  when?  says  you,"  he  added.  "Why,  from 
about  noon  observation  to  about  six  bells." 

"  Good,"  said  I,  "  and  now  may  I  go  ?" 

"  You  won't  forget  ?  "  he  inquired,  anxiously.  "  Pre- 
cious sight,  and  reasons  of  his  own,  says  you.  Reasons 
of  his  own;  that's  the  mainstay;  as  between  man  and 
man.  Well,  then  " —  still  holding  me  —  "I  reckon  you 
can  go,  Jim.  And,  Jim,  if  you  was  to  see  Silver,  you 
wouldn't  go  for  to  sell  Ben  Gunn  ?  wild  horses  wouldn't 
draw  it  from  you  ?  No,  says  you.  And  if  them  pirates 
camp  ashore,  Jim,  what  would  you  say  but  there'd  be 
widders  in  the  morning  ?" 

Here  he  was  interrupted  by  a  loud  report,  and  a 
cannon  ball  came  tearing  through  the  trees  and  pitched 
in  the  sand,  not  a  hundred  yards  from  where  we  two 
were  talking.  The  next  moment  each  of  us  had  taken 
to  his  heels  in  a  different  direction. 

For  a  good  hour  to  come  frequent  reports  shook  the 
island,  and  balls  kept  crashing  through  the  woods.     I 

140 


THE  GARRISON   IN   THE  STOCKADE 

moved  from  hiding-place  to  hiding-place,  always  pur- 
sued, or  so  it  seemed  to  me,  by  these  terrifying  missiles. 
But  towards  the  end  of  the  bombardment,  though  still  I 
durst  not  venture  in  the  direction  of  the  stockade,  where 
the  balls  fell  oftenest,  I  had  begun,  in  a  manner,  to  pluck 
up  my  heart  again ;  and  after  a  long  detour  to  the  east, 
crept  down  among  the  shore-side  trees. 

The  sun  had  just  set,  the  sea  breeze  was  rustling  and 
tumbling  in  the  woods,  and  ruffling  the  grey  surface  of 
the  anchorage ;  the  tide,  too,  was  far  out,  and  great  tracts 
of  sand  lay  uncovered ;  the  air,  after  the  heat  of  the  day, 
chilled  me  through  my  jacket. 

The  HiSpaniola  still  lay  where  she  had  anchored ;  but, 
sure  enough,  there  was  the  Jolly  Roger — the  black  flag 
of  piracy  —  flying  from  her  peak.  Even  as  I  looked, 
there  came  another  red  flash  and  another  report,  that 
sent  the  echoes  clattering,  and  one  more  round  shot 
whistled  through  the  air.  It  was  the  last  of  the  can- 
nonade. 

I  lay  for  some  time,  watching  the  bustle  which  suc- 
ceeded the  attack.  Men  were  demolishing  something 
with  axes  on  the  beach  near  the  stockade;  the  poor 
jolly-boat,  I  afterwards  discovered.  Away,  near  the 
mouth  of  the  river,  a  great  fire  was  glowing  among  the 
trees,  and  between  that  point  and  the  ship  one  of  the 
gigs  kept  coming  and  going,  the  men,  whom  I  had  seen 
so  gloomy,  shouting  at  the  oars  like  children.  But  there 
was  a  sound  in  their  voices  which  suggested  rum. 

At  length  I  thought  I  might  return  towards  the  stock- 
ade. I  was  pretty  far  down  on  the  low,  sandy  spit  that 
encloses  the  anchorage  to  the  east,  and  is  joined  at  half- 
water  to  Skeleton  Island ;  and  now,  as  I  rose  to  my  feet, 

141 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

I  saw,  some  distance  further  down  the  spit,  and  rising 
from  among  low  bushes,  an  isolated  rock,  pretty  high, 
and  peculiarly  white  in  colour.  It  occurred  to  me  that 
this  might  be  the  white  rock  of  which  Ben  Gunn  had 
spoken,  and  that  some  day  or  other  a  boat  might  be 
wanted,  and  I  should  know  where  to  look  for  one. 

Then  I  skirted  among  the  woods  until  I  had  regained 
the  rear,  or  shoreward  side,  of  the  stockade,  and  was 
soon  warmly  welcomed  by  the  faithful  party. 

I  had  soon  told  my  story,  and  began  to  look  about  me. 
The  log-house  was  made  of  unsquared  trunks  of  pine 
—  roof,  walls,  and  floor.  The  latter  stood  in  several 
places  as  much  as  a  foot  or  a  foot  and  a  half  above  the 
surface  of  the  sand.  There  was  a  porch  at  the  door, 
and  under  this  porch  the  little  spring  welled  up  into  an 
artificial  basin  of  a  rather  odd  kind  —  no  other  than  a 
great  ship's  kettle  of  iron,  with  the  bottom  knocked  out, 
and  sunk  "to  her  bearings,"  as  the  captain  said,  among 
the  sand. 

Little  had  been  left  beside  the  framework  of  the  house; 
but  in  one  corner  there  was  a  stone  slab  laid  down  by 
way  of  hearth,  and  an  old  rusty  iron  basket  to  contain 
the  fire. 

The  slopes  of  the  knoll  and  all  the  inside  of  the  stock- 
ade had  been  cleared  of  timber  to  build  the  house,  and 
we  could  see  by  the  stumps  what  a  fine  and  lofty  grove 
had  been  destroyed.  Most  of  the  soil  had  been  washed 
away  or  buried  in  drift  after  the  removal  of  the  trees ; 
only  where  the  streamlet  ran  down  from  the  kettle  a 
thick  bed  of  moss  and  some  ferns  and  little  creeping 
bushes  were  still  green  among  the  sand.  Very  close 
around  the  stockade  —  too  close  for  defence,  they  said 

142 


THE  GARRISON   IN  THE  STOCKADE 

—  the  wood  still  flourished  high  and  dense,  all  of  fir  on 
the  land  side,  but  towards  the  sea  with  a  large  admix- 
ture of  live-oaks. 

The  cold  evening  breeze,  of  which  I  have  spoken, 
whistled  through  every  chink  of  the  rude  building,  and 
sprinkled  the  floor  with  a  continual  rain  of  fine  sand. 
There  was  sand  in  our  eyes,  sand  in  our  teeth,  sand  in 
our  suppers,  sand  dancing  in  the  spring  at  the  bottom  of 
the  kettle,  for  all  the  world  like  porridge  beginning  to 
boil.  Our  chimney  was  a  square  hole  in  the  roof;  it 
was  but  a  little  part  of  the  smoke  that  found  its  way 
out,  and  the  rest  eddied  about  the  house,  and  kept  us 
coughing  and  piping  the  eye. 

Add  to  this  that  Gray,  the  new  man,  had  his  face  tied 
up  in  a  bandage  for  a  cut  he  had  got  in  breaking  away 
from  the  mutineers;  and  that  poor  old  Tom  Redruth, 
still  unburied,  lay  along  the  wall,  stiff  and  stark,  under 
the  Union  Jack. 

If  we  had  been  allowed  to  sit  idle,  we  should  all 
have  fallen  in  the  blues,  but  Captain  Smollett  was  never 
the  man  for  that.  All  hands  were  called  up  before  him, 
and  he  divided  us  into  watches.  The  doctor,  and  Gray, 
and  I,  for  one;  the  squire,  Hunter,  and  Joyce,  upon  the 
other.  Tired  though  we  all  were,  two  were  sent  out 
for  firewood;  two  more  were  set  to  dig  a  grave  for 
Redruth ;  the  doctor  was  named  cook ;  I  was  put  sentry 
at  the  door;  and  the  captain  himself  went  from  one  to 
another,  keeping  up  our  spirits  and  lending  a  hand 
wherever  it  was  wanted. 

From  time  to  time  the  doctor  came  to  the  door  for  a  little 
air  and  to  rest  his  eyes,  which  were  almost  smoked  out  of 
his  head ;  and  whenever  he  did  so,  he  had  a  word  for  me. 

143 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

"  That  man  Smollett,"  he  said  once,  "  is  a  better  man 
than  I  am.    And  when  I  say  that  it  means  a  deal,  Jim." 

Another  time  he  came  and  was  silent  for  a  while. 
Then  he  put  his  head  on  one  side,  and  looked  at  me. 

"  Is  this  Ben  Gunn  a  man  ?"  he  asked. 

"I  do  not  know,  sir,"  said  I.  "lam  not  very  sure 
whether  he's  sane." 

"If  there's  any  doubt  about  the  matter,  he  is,"  re- 
turned the  doctor.  "  A  man  who  has  been  three  years 
biting  his  nails  on  a  desert  island,  Jim,  can't  expect  to 
appear  as  sane  as  you  or  me.  It  doesn't  lie  in  human 
nature.     Was  it  cheese  you  said  he  had  a  fancy  for  ?  " 

"Yes,  sir,  cheese,"  I  answered. 

"  Well,  Jim,"  says  he,  "just  seethe  good  that  comes 
of  being  dainty  in  your  food.  You've  seen  my  snuff- 
box, haven't  you  ?  And  you  never  saw  me  take  snuff; 
the  reason  being  that  in  my  snuff-box  I  carry  a  piece  of 
Parmesan  cheese  —  a  cheese  made  in  Italy,  very  nutria 
tious.     Well,  that's  for  Ben  Gunn!  " 

Before  supper  was  eaten  we  buried  old  Tom  in  the 
sand,  and  stood  round  him  for  a  while  bare-headed  in 
the  breeze.  A  good  deal  of  firewood  had  been  got  in, 
but  not  enough  for  the  captain's  fancy ;  and  he  shook 
his  head  over  it,  and  told  us  we  "  must  get  back  to  this 
to-morrow  rather  livelier."  Then,  when  we  had  eaten 
our  pork,  and  each  had  a  good  stiff  glass  of  brandy 
grog,  the  three  chiefs  got  together  in  a  corner  to  discuss 
our  prospects. 

It  appears  they  were  at  their  wit's  end  what  to  do, 
the  stores  being  so  low  that  we  must  have  been  starved 
into  surrender  long  before  help  came.  But  our  best 
hope,  it  was  decided,  was  to  kill  off  the  buccaneers  un-, 

'44 


THE  GARRISON  IN  THE  STOCKADE 

til  they  either  hauled  down  their  flag  or  ran  away  with 
the  Hispaniola.  From  nineteen  they  were  already  re- 
duced to  fifteen,  two  others  were  wounded,  and  one, 
at  least — the  man  shot  beside  the  gun  —  severely 
wounded,  if  he  were  not  dead.  Every  time  we  had  a 
crack  at  them,  we  were  to  take  it,  saving  our  own  lives, 
with  the  extremest  care.  And,  besides  that,  we  had 
two  able  allies  —  rum  and  the  climate. 

As  for  the  first,  though  we  were  about  half  a  mile 
away,  we  could  hear  them  roaring  and  singing  late  into 
the  night;  and  as  for  the  second,  the  doctor  staked  his 
wig  that,  camped  where  they  were  in  the  marsh,  and 
unprovided  with  remedies,  the  half  of  them  would  be 
on  their  backs  before  a  week. 

"  So,"  he  added,  "  if  we  are  not  all  shot  down  first, 
they'll  be  glad  to  be  packing  in  the  schooner.  It's  al- 
ways a  ship,  and  they  can  get  to  buccaneering  again,  I 
suppose." 

"First  ship  that  ever  I  lost,"  said  Captain  Smollett. 

I  was  dead  tired,  as  you  may  fancy ;  and  when  I  got 
to  sleep,  which  was  not  till  after  a  great  deal  of  tossing, 
I  slept  like  a  log  of  wood. 

The  rest  had  long  been  up,  and  had  already  break- 
fasted and  increased  the  pile  of  firewood  by  about  half 
as  much  again,  when  I  was  wakened  by  a  bustle  and 
the  sound  of  voices. 

"Flag  of  truce!"  I  heard  some  one  say;  and  then, 
immediately  after,  with  a  cry  of  surprise,  "Silver  him- 
self!" 

And,  at  that,  up  I  jumped,  and,  rubbing  my  eyes,  ran 
to  a  loophole  in  the  wall. 


>4S 


CHAPTER  XX 

silver's  embassy 

Sure  enough,  there  were  two  men  just  outside  the 
stockade,  one  of  them  waving  a  white  cloth ;  the  other, 
no  less  a  person  than  Silver  himself,  standing  placidly  by. 

It  was  still  quite  early,  and  the  coldest  morning  that 
I  think  I  ever  was  abroad  in ;  a  chill  that  pierced  into  the 
marrow.  The  sky  was  bright  and  cloudless  overhead, 
and  the  tops  of  the  trees  shone  rosily  in  the  sun.  But 
where  Silver  stood  with  his  lieutenant  all  was  still  in 
shadow,  and  they  waded  knee  deep  in  a  low,  white 
vapour  that  had  crawled  during  the  night  out  of  the 
morass.  The  chill  and  the  vapour  taken  together  told  a 
poor  tale  of  the  island.  It  was  plainly  a  damp,  feverish, 
unhealthy  spot. 

*  ■  Keep  indoors,  men, "  said  the  captain.  '  ■  Ten  to  one 
this  is  a  trick." 

Then  he  hailed  the  buccaneer. 

"Who  goes  ?    Stand,  or  we  fire." 

"Flag  of  truce,"  cried  Silver. 

The  captain  was  in  the  porch,  keeping  himself  care- 
fully out  of  the  way  of  a  treacherous  shot  should  any  be 
intended.     He  turned  and  spoke  to  us : 

"Doctor's  watch  on  the  look  out.  Dr.  Livesey,  take 
the  north  side,  if  you  please;  Jim,  the  east;  Gray,  west. 

146 


SILVER'S  EMBASSY 

The  watch  below,  all  hands  to  load  muskets.     Lively, 
men,  and  careful." 

And  then  he  turned  again  to  the  mutineers. 

"And  what  do  you  want  with  your  flag  of  truce?" 
he  cried. 

This  time  it  was  the  other  man  who  replied. 

"Cap'n  Silver,  sir,  to  come  on  board  and  make 
terms,"  he  shouted. 

"  Cap'n  Silver !  Don't  know  him.  Who's  he  ?  "  cried 
the  captain.  And  we  could  hear  him  adding  to  himself: 
M  Cap'n,  is  it  ?    My  heart,  and  here's  promotion ! " 

Long  John  answered  for  himself. 

"Me,  sir.  These  poor  lads  have  chosen  me  cap'n, 
after  your  desertion,  sir" — laying  a  particular  emphasis 
upon  the  word  ' '  desertion. "  ' '  We're  willing  to  submit, 
if  we  can  come  to  terms,  and  no  bones  about  it.  All  I 
ask  is  your  word,  Cap'n  Smollett,  to  let  me  safe  and 
sound  out  of  this  here  stockade,  and  one  minute  to  get 
out  o'  shot  before  a  gun  is  fired. " 

"My  man,"  said  Captain  Smollett,  "I  have  not  the 
slightest  desire  to  talk  to  you.  If  you  wish  to  talk  to 
me,  you  can  come,  that's  all.  If  there's  any  treachery, 
it'll  be  on  your  side,  and  the  Lord  help  you." 

"That's  enough,  cap'n,"  shouted  Long  John,  cheerily. 
1 '  A  word  from  y ou's  enough.  I  know  a  gentleman,  and 
you  may  lay  to  that." 

We  could  see  the  man  who  carried  the  flag  of  truce 
attempting  to  hold  Silver  back.  Nor  was  that  wonder- 
ful, seeing  how  cavalier  had  been  the  captain's  answer. 
But  Silver  laughed  at  him  aloud,  and  slapped  him  on 
the  back,  as  if  the  idea  of  alarm  had  been  absurd.  Then 
he  advanced  to  the  stockade,  threw  over  his  crutch,  got 

147 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

a  leg  up,  and  with  great  vigour  and  skill  succeeded  in 
surmounting  the  fence  and  dropping  safely  to  the  other 
side. 

I  will  confess  that  I  was  far  too  much  taken  up  with 
what  was  going  on  to  be  of  the  slightest  use  as  sentry ; 
indeed,  I  had  already  deserted  my  eastern  loophole,  and 
crept  up  behind  the  captain,  who  had  now  seated  him- 
self on  the  threshold,  with  his  elbows  on  his  knees,  his 
head  in  his  hands,  and  his  eyes  fixed  on  the  water,  as  it 
bubbled  out  of  the  old  iron  kettle  in  the  sand.  He  was 
whistling  to  himself,  "Come,  Lasses  and  Lads." 

Silver  had  terrible  hard  work  getting  up  the  knoll. 
What  with  the  steepness  of  the  incline,  the  thick  tree 
stumps,  and  the  soft  sand,  he  and  his  crutch  were  as 
helpless  as  a  ship  in  stays.  But  he  stuck  to  it  like  a  man 
in  silence,  and  at  last  arrived  before  the  captain,  whom 
he  saluted  in  the  handsomest  style.  He  was  tricked  out 
in  his  best ;  an  immense  blue  coat,  thick  with  brass  but- 
tons, hung  as  low  as  to  his  knees,  and  a  fine  laced  hat 
was  set  on  the  back  of  his  head. 

"Here  you  are,  my  man,"  said  the  captain,  raising 
his  head.     "You  had  better  sit  down." 

"You  ain't  a-going  to  let  me  inside,  cap'n?"  com- 
plained Long  John.  "It's  a  main  cold  morning,  to  be 
sure,  sir,  to  sit  outside  upon  the  sand." 

"Why,  Silver,"  said  the  captain,  "if  you  had  pleased 
to  be  an  honest  man,  you  might  have  been  sitting  in 
your  galley.  It's  your  own  doing.  You're  either  my 
ship's  cook  —  and  then  you  were  treated  handsome  —  or 
Cap'n  Silver,  a  common  mutineer  and  pirate,  and  then 
you  can  go  hang!" 

"Well,  well,  cap'n,"  returned  the  sea  cook,  sitting 
148 


SILVER'S   EMBASSY 

down  as  he  was  bidden  on  the  sand,  "  you'll  have  to 
give  me  a  hand  up  again,  that's  all.  A  sweet  pretty 
place  you  have  of  it  here.  Ah,  there's  Jim !  The  top  of 
the  morning  to  you,  Jim.  Doctor,  here's  my  service. 
Why,  there  you  all  are  together  like  a  happy  family,  in 
a  manner  of  speaking." 

"  If  you  have  anything  to  say,  my  man,  better  say  it," 
said  the  captain. 

"Right  you  were,  Cap'n  Smollett,"  replied  Silver. 
"Dooty  is  dooty,  to  be  sure.  Well,  now,  you  look 
here,  that  was  a  good  lay  of  yours  last  night.  I  don't 
deny  it  was  a  good  lay.  Some  of  you  pretty  handy 
with  a  handspike-end.  And  I'll  not  deny  neither  but 
what  some  of  my  people  was  shook  —  maybe  all  was 
shook ;  maybe  I  was  shook  myself;  maybe  that's  why 
I'm  here  for  terms.  But  you  mark  me,  cap'n,  it  won't 
do  twice,  by  thunder!  We'll  have  to  do  sentry-go,  and 
ease  off  a  point  or  so  on  the  rum.  Maybe  you  think  we 
were  all  a  sheet  in  the  wind's  eye.  But  I'll  tell  you  I 
was  sober;  I  was  on'y  dog  tired;  and  if  I'd  awoke  a 
second  sooner  I'd  'a'  caught  you  at  the  act,  I  would. 
He  wasn't  dead  when  I  got  round  to  him,  not  he." 

"Well?"  says  Captain  Smollett,  as  cool  as  can  be. 

All  that  Silver  said  was  a  riddle  to  him,  but  you  would 
never  have  guessed  it  from  his  tone.  As  for  me,  I  began 
to  have  an  inkling.  Ben  Gunn's  last  words  came  back 
to  my  mind.  I  began  to  suppose  that  he  had  paid  the 
buccaneers  a  visit  while  they  all  lay  drunk  together  round 
their  fire,  and  I  reckoned  up  with  glee  that  we  had  only 
fourteen  enemies  to  deal  with. 

1 '  Well,  here  it  is, "  said  Silver.  ' '  We  want  that  treas- 
ure, and  we'll  have  it  —  that's  our  point!      You  would 

149 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

just  as  soon  save  your  lives,  I  reckon ;  and  that's  yours. 
You  have  a  chart,  haven't  you  ?  " 

"  That's  as  may  be,"  replied  the  captain. 

"Oh,  well,  you  have,  I  know  that,"  returned  Long 
John.  "You  needn't  be  so  husky  with  a  man;  there 
ain't  a  particle  of  service  in  that,  and  you  may  lay  to  it. 
What  I  mean  is,  we  want  your  chart.  Now,  I  never 
meant  you  no  harm,  myself." 

"  That  won't  do  with  me,  my  man,"  interrupted  the 
captain.  "We  know  exactly  what  you  meant  to  do, 
and  we  don't  care;  for  now,  you  see,  you  can't  do  it." 

And  the  captain  looked  at  him  calmly,  and  proceeded 
to  fill  a  pipe. 

"  If  Abe  Gray "  Silver  broke  out. 

"  Avast  there! "  cried  Mr.  Smollett.  "Gray  told  me 
nothing,  and  I  asked  him  nothing ;  and  what's  more,  I 
would  see  you  and  him  and  this  whole  island  blown 
clean  out  of  the  water  into  blazes  first.  So  there's  my 
mind  for  you,  my  man,  on  that." 

This  little  whiff  of  temper  seemed  to  cool  Silver  down. 
He  had  been  growing  nettled  before,  but  now  he  pulled 
himself  together. 

"Like  enough,"  said  he.  "I  would  set  no  limits  to 
what  gentlemen  might  consider  shipshape,  or  might  not, 
as  the  case  were.  And,  seein'  as  how  you  are  about  to 
take  a  pipe,  cap'n,  I'll  make  so  free  as  do  likewise." 

And  he  filled  a  pipe  and  lighted  it;  and  the  two  men 
sat  silently  smoking  for  quite  a  while,  now  looking  each 
other  in  the  face,  now  stopping  their  tobacco,  now  lean- 
ing forward  to  spit.  It  was  as  good  as  the  play  to  see 
them. 

"Now,"  resumed  Silver,  "here  it  is.  You  give  us 
150 


SILVER'S   EMBASSY 

the  chart  to  get  the  treasure  by,  and  drop  shooting  poor 
seamen,  and  stoving  of  their  heads  in  while  asleep.  You 
do  that,  and  we'll  offer  you  a  choice.  Either  you  come 
aboard  along  of  us,  once  the  treasure  shipped,  and  then 
I'll  give  you  my  affy-davy,  upon  my  word  of  honour, 
to  clap  you  somewhere  safe  ashore.  Or,  if  that  ain't  to 
your  fancy,  some  of  my  hands  being  rough,  and  having 
old  scores,  on  account  of  hazing,  then  you  can  stay 
here,  you  can.  We'll  divide  stores  with  you,  man  for 
man ;  and  I'll  give  my  afTy-davy,  as  before,  to  speak  the 
first  ship  I  sight,  and  send  'em  here  to  pick  you  up. 
Now  you'll  own  that's  talking.  Handsomer  you  couldn't 
look  to  get,  not  you.  And  I  hope  " —  raising  his  voice 
—  "that  all  hands  in  this  here  block-house  will  over- 
haul my  words,  for  what  is  spoke  to  one  is  spoke  to 
all." 

Captain  Smollett  rose  from  his  seat,  and  knocked  out 
the  ashes  of  his  pipe  in  the  palm  of  his  left  hand, 

"Is  that  all?"  he  asked. 

"Every  last  word,  by  thunder!"  answered  John. 
"Refuse  that,  and  you've  seen  the  last  of  me  but  mus- 
ket-balls." 

"Very  good,"  said  the  captain.  "Now  you'll  hear 
me.  If  you'll  come  up  one  by  one,  unarmed,  I'll  engage 
to  clap  you  all  in  irons,  and  take  you  home  to  a  fair  trial 
in  England.  If  you  won't,  my  name  is  Alexander  Smol- 
lett, I've  flown  my  sovereign's  colours,  and  I'll  see  you 
all  to  Davy  Jones.  You  can't  find  the  treasure.  You 
can't  sail  the  ship  —  there's  not  a  man  among  you  fit 
to  sail  the  ship.  You  can't  fight  us  —  Gray,  there,  got 
away  from  five  of  you.  Your  ship's  in  irons,  Master 
Silver;  you're  on  a  lee  shore,  and  so  you'll  find.     I 

151 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

stand  here  and  tell  you  so;  and  they're  the  last  good 
words  you'll  get  from  me;  for,  in  the  name  of  heaven, 
I'll  put  a  bullet  in  your  back  when  next  I  meet  you. 
Tramp,  my  lad.  Bundle  out  of  this,  please,  hand  over 
hand,  and  double  quick." 

Silver's  face  was  a  picture;  his  eyes  started  in  his 
head  with  wrath.     He  shook  the  fire  out  of  his  pipe. 

"  Give  me  a  hand  up ! "  he  cried. 

"Not  I,"  returned  the  captain. 

"  Who'll  give  me  a  hand  up  ?  "  he  roared. 

Not  a  man  among  us  moved.  Growling  the  foulest 
imprecations,  he  crawled  along  the  sand  till  he  got  hold 
of  the  porch  and  could  hoist  himself  again  upon  his 
crutch.     Then  he  spat  into  the  spring. 

"There  ! "  he  cried,  "  that's  what  I  think  of  ye.  Be- 
fore an  hour's  out,  I'll  stove  in  your  old  block-house  like 
a  rum  puncheon.  Laugh,  by  thunder,  laugh  !  Before 
an  hour's  out,  ye'll  laugh  upon  the  other  side.  Them 
that  die'll  be  the  lucky  ones." 

And  with  a  dreadful  oath  he  stumbled  off,  ploughed 
down  the  sand,  was  helped  across  the  stockade,  after 
four  or  five  failures,  by  the  man  with  the  flag  of  truce, 
and  disappeared  in  an  instant  afterwards  among  the 
trees. 


152 


CHAPTER    XXI 

THE    ATTACK 

As  soon  as  Silver  disappeared,  the  captain,  who  had 
been  closely  watching  him,  turned  towards  the  interior 
of  the  house,  and  found  not  a  man  of  us  at  his  post 
but  Gray.  It  was  the  first  time  we  had  ever  seen  him 
angry. 

"Quarters  !"  he  roared.  And  then,  as  we  all  slunk 
back  to  our  places,  "Gray,"  he  said,  "I'll  put  your 
name  in  the  log;  you've  stood  by  your  duty  like  a  sea- 
man. Mr.  Trelawney,  I'm  surprised  at  you,  sir.  Doc- 
tor, I  thought  you  had  worn  the  king's  coat  1  If  that 
was  how  you  served  at  Fontenoy,  sir,  you'd  have  been 
better  in  your  berth." 

The  doctor's  watch  were  all  back  at  their  loopholes, 
the  rest  were  busy  loading  the  spare  muskets,  and  every 
one  with  a  red  face,  you  may  be  certain,  and  a  flea  in 
his  ear,  as  the  saying  is. 

The  captain  looked  on  for  a  while  in  silence.  Then 
he  spoke. 

"My  lads,"  said  he,  "I've  given  Silver  a  broadside. 
I  pitched  it  in  red-hot  on  purpose ;  and  before  the  hour's 
out,  as  he  said,  we  shall  be  boarded.  We're  outnum- 
bered, I  needn't  tell  you  that,  but  we  fight  in  shelter; 
and,  a  minute  ago,  I  should  have  said  we  fought  with 

153 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

discipline.  I've  no  manner  of  doubt  that  we  can  drub 
them,  if  you  choose." 

Then  he  went  the  rounds,  and  saw,  as  he  said,  that 
all  was  clear. 

On  the  two  short  sides  of  the  house,  east  and  west, 
there  were  only  two  loopholes ;  on  the  south  side  where 
the  porch  was,  two  again ;  and  on  the  north  side,  five. 
There  was  a  round  score  of  muskets  for  the  seven  of  us ; 
the  firewood  had  been  built  into  four  piles  —  tables,  you 
might  say  —  one  about  the  middle  of  each  side,  and  on 
each  of  these  tables  some  ammunition  and  four  loaded 
muskets  were  laid  ready  to  the  hand  of  the  defenders. 
In  the  middle,  the  cutlasses  lay  ranged. 

"Toss  out  the  fire,"  said  the  captain;  "the  chill  is 
past,  and  we  musn't  have  smoke  in  our  eyes." 

The  iron  fire  basket  was  carried  bodily  out  by  Mr. 
Trelawney,  and  the  embers  smothered  among  sand. 

"  Hawkins  hasn't  had  his  breakfast.  Hawkins,  help 
yourself,  and  back  to  your  post  to  eat  it,"  continued 
Captain  Smollett.  "Lively,  now,  my  lad;  you'll  want 
it  before  you've  done.  Hunter,  serve  out  a  round  of 
brandy  to  all  hands." 

And  while  this  was  going  on,  the  captain  completed, 
in  his  own  mind,  the  plan  of  the  defence. 

"  Doctor,  you  will  take  the  door,"  he  resumed.  "  See, 
and  don't  expose  yourself;  keep  within,  and  fire  through 
the  porch.  Hunter,  take  the  east  side,  there.  Joyce, 
you  stand  by  the  west,  my  man.  Mr.  Trelawney,  you 
are  the  best  shot — you  and  Gray  will  take  this  long  north 
side,  with  the  five  loopholes ;  it's  there  the  danger  is. 
If  they  can  get  up  to  it,  and  fire  in  upon  us  through  our 
own  ports,  things  would  begin  to  look  dirty.     Haw- 

154 


THE  ATTACK 

kins,  neither  you  nor  I  are  much  account  at  the  shoot- 
ing; we'll  stand  by  to  load  and  bear  a  hand." 

As  the  captain  had  said,  the  chill  was  past.  As  soon 
as  the  sun  had  climbed  above  our  girdle  of  trees,  it  fell 
with  all  its  force  upon  the  clearing,  and  drank  up  the 
vapours  at  a  draught.  Soon  the  sand  was  baking,  and 
the  resin  melting  in  the  logs  of  the  blockhouse.  Jackets 
and  coats  were  flung  aside ;  shirts  thrown  open  at  the 
neck,  and  rolled  up  to  the  shoulders;  and  we  stood 
there,  each  at  his  post,  in  a  fever  of  heat  and  anxiety. 

An  hour  passed  away. 

"  Hang  them ! "  said  the  captain.  "  This  is  as  dull  as 
the  doldrums.     Gray,  whistle  for  a  wind." 

And  just  at  that  moment  came  the  first  news  of  the 
attack. 

"If  you  please,  sir,"  said  Joyce,  "if  I  see  any  one  am 
I  to  fire?" 

"I  told  you  so! "  cried  the  captain. 

"Thank  you,  sir,"  returned  Joyce,  with  the  same  quiet 
civility. 

Nothing  followed  for  a  time;  but  the  remark  had  set 
us  all  on  the  alert,  straining  ears  and  eyes  —  the  mus- 
keteers with  their  pieces  balanced  in  their  hands,  the 
captain  out  in  the  middle  of  the  block-house,  with  his 
mouth  very  tight  and  a  frown  on  his  face. 

So  some  seconds  passed,  till  suddenly  Joyce  whipped 
up  his  musket  and  fired.  The  report  had  scarcely  died 
away  ere  it  was  repeated  and  repeated  from  without  in 
a  scattering  volley,  shot  behind  shot,  like  a  string  of 
geese,  from  every  side  of  the  enclosure.  Several  bullets 
struck  the  log-house,  but  not  one  entered ;  and,  as  the 
smoke  cleared  away  and  vanished,  the  stockade  and 

155 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

the  woods  around  it  looked  as  quiet  and  empty  as  be- 
fore. Not  a  bough  waved,  not  the  gleam  of  a  musket- 
barrel  betrayed  the  presence  of  our  foes. 

"  Did  you  hit  your  man  ?  "  asked  the  captain. 

"No,  sir,"  replied  Joyce.   '  "  I  believe  not,  sir." 

"Next  best  thing  to  tell  the  truth,"  muttered  Captain 
Smollett.  "Load  his  gun,  Hawkins.  How  many 
should  you  say  there  were  on  your  side,  doctor  ?  " 

1  *  I  know  precisely, "  said  Dr.  Livesey.  ' '  Three  shots 
were  fired  on  this  side.  I  saw  the  three  flashes — two 
close  together  —  one  farther  to  the  west." 

"Three!"  repeated  the  captain.  "And  how  many 
on  yours,  Mr.  Trelawney  ?  " 

But  this  was  not  so  easily  answered.  There  had 
come  many  from  the  north  —  seven,  by  the  squire's 
computation ;  eight  or  nine,  according  to  Gray.  From 
the  east  and  west  only  a  single  shot  had  been  fired.  It 
was  plain,  therefore,  that  the  attack  would  be  developed 
from  the  north,  and  that  on  the  other  three  sides  we 
were  only  to  be  annoyed  by  a  show  of  hostilities.  But 
Captain  Smollett  made  no  change  in  his  arrangements. 
If  the  mutineers  succeeded  in  crossing  the  stockade,  he 
argued,  they  would  take  possession  of  any  unprotected 
loophole,  and  shoot  us  down  like  rats  in  our  own  strong- 
hold. 

Nor  had  we  much  time  left  to  us  for  thought.  Sud- 
denly, with  a  loud  huzza,  a  little  cloud  of  pirates  leaped 
from  the  woods  on  the  north  side,  and  ran  straight  on 
the  stockade.  At  the  same  moment,  the  fire  was  once 
more  opened  from  the  woods,  and  a  rifle  ball  sang 
through  the  doorway,  and  knocked  the  doctor's  musket 
into  bits. 

156 


THE  ATTACK 

The  boarders  swarmed  over  the  fence  like  monkeys. 
Squire  and  Gray  fired  again  and  yet  again ;  three  men 
fell,  one  forwards  into  the  enclosure,  two  back  on  the 
outside.  But  of  these,  one  was  evidently  more  fright- 
ened than  hurt,  for  he  was  on  his  feet  again  in  a  crack, 
and  instantly  disappeared  among  the  trees. 

Two  had  bit  the  dust,  one  had  fled,  four  had  made 
good  their  footing  inside  our  defences ;  while  from  the 
shelter  of  the  woods  seven  or  eight  men,  each  evidently 
supplied  with  several  muskets,  kept  up  a  hot  though 
useless  fire  on  the  log-house. 

The  four  who  had  boarded  made  straight  before  them 
for  the  building,  shouting  as  they  ran,  and  the  men 
among  the  trees  shouted  back  to  encourage  them.  Sev- 
eral shots  were  fired;  but,  such  was  the  hurry  of  the 
marksmen,  not  one  appears  to  have  taken  effect.  In  a 
moment,  the  four  pirates  had  swarmed  up  the  mound 
and  were  upon  us. 

The  head  of  Job  Anderson,  the  boatswain,  appeared 
at  the  middle  loophole. 

"At  'em,  all  hands  —  all  hands!  "  he  roared,  in  a  voice 
of  thunder. 

At  the  same  moment,  another  pirate  grasped  Hunter's 
musket  by  the  muzzle,  wrenched  it  from  his  hands, 
plucked  it  through  the  loophole,  and,  with  one  stunning 
blow,  laid  the  poor  fellow  senseless  on  the  floor.  Mean- 
while a  third,  running  unharmed  all  round  the  house, 
appeared  suddenly  in  the  doorway,  and  fell  with  his 
cutlass  on  the  doctor. 

Our  position  was  utterly  reversed.  A  moment  since 
we  were  firing,  under  cover,  at  an  exposed  enemy ;  now  it 
was  we  who  lay  uncovered,  and  could  not  return  a  blow. 

157 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

The  log-house  was  full  of  smoke,  to  which  we  owed 
our  comparative  safety.  Cries  and  confusion,  the  flashes 
and  reports  of  pistol  shots,  and  one  loud  groan,  rang  in 
my  ears. 

"Out,  lads,  out,  and  fight  'em  in  the  open!  Cut- 
lasses!" cried  the  captain. 

I  snatched  a  cutlass  from  the  pile,  and  some  one,  at 
the  same  time  snatching  another,  gave  me  a  cut  across 
the  knuckles  which  I  hardly  felt.  I  dashed  out  of  the 
door  into  the  clear  sunlight.  Some  one  was  close  be- 
hind, I  knew  not  whom.  Right  in  front,  the  doctor 
was  pursuing  his  assailant  down  the  hill,  and,  just  as 
my  eyes  fell  upon  him,  beat  down  his  guard,  and  sent 
him  sprawling  on  his  back,  with  a  great  slash  across  the 
face. 

"  Round  the  house,  lads!  round  the  house! "  cried  the 
captain ;  and  even  in  the  hurly-burly  I  perceived  a  change 
in  his  voice. 

Mechanically,  I  obeyed,  turned  eastwards,  and  with 
my  cutlass  raised,  ran  round  the  corner  of  the  house. 
Next  moment  I  was  face  to  face  with  Anderson.  He 
roared  aloud,  and  his  hanger  went  up  above  his  head, 
flashing  in  the  sunlight.  I  had  not  time  to  be  afraid,  but, 
as  the  blow  still  hung  impending,  leaped  in  a  trice  upon 
one  side,  and  missing  my  foot  in  the  soft  sand,  rolled 
headlong  down  the  slope. 

When  I  had  first  sallied  from  the  door,  the  other  mu- 
tineers had  been  already  swarming  up  the  palisade  to 
make  an  end  of  us.  One  man,  in  a  red  night-cap,  with 
his  cutlass  in  his  mouth,  had  even  got  upon  the  top  and 
thrown  a  leg  across.  Well,  so  short  had  been  the  in- 
terval, that  when  I  found  my  feet  again  all  was  in  the 

158 


THE  ATTACK 

same  posture,  the  fellow  with  the  red  night-cap  still 
halfway  over,  another  still  just  showing  his  head  above 
the  top  of  the  stockade.  And  yet,  in  this  breath  of  time, 
the  fight  was  over,  and  the  victory  was  ours. 

Gray,  following  close  behind  me,  had  cut  down  the 
big  boatswain  ere  he  had  time  to  recover  from  his  lost 
blow.  Another  had  been  shot  at  a  loophole  in  the  very 
act  of  firing  into  the  house,  and  now  lay  in  agony,  the 
pistol  still  smoking  in  his  hand.  A  third,  as  I  had  seen, 
the  doctor  had  disposed  of  at  a  blow.  Of  the  four  who 
had  scaled  the  palisade,  one  only  remained  unaccounted 
for,  and  he,  having  left  his  cutlass  on  the  field,  was  now 
clambering  out  again  with  the  fear  of  death  upon  him. 

' '  Fire — fire  from  the  house !  "  cried  the  doctor.  '  'And 
you,  lads,  back  into  cover." 

But  his  words  were  unheeded,  no  shot  was  fired,  and 
the  last  boarder  made  good  his  escape,  and  disappeared 
with  the  rest  into  the  wood.  In  three  seconds  nothing 
remained  of  the  attacking  party  but  the  five  who  had 
fallen,  four  on  the  inside,  and  one  on  the  outside,  of  the 
palisade. 

The  doctor  and  Gray  and  I  ran  full  speed  for  shelter. 
The  survivors  would  soon  be  back  where  they  had  left 
their  muskets,  and  at  any  moment  the  fire  might  recom- 
mence. 

The  house  was  by  this  time  somewhat  cleared  of 
smoke,  and  we  saw  at  a  glance  the  price  we  had  paid 
for  victory.  Hunter  lay  beside  his  loophole,  stunned ; 
Joyce  by  his,  shot  through  the  head,  never  to  move 
again ;  while  right  in  the  centre,  the  squire  was  support- 
ing the  captain,  one  as  pale  as  the  other. 

"The  captain's  wounded,"  said  Mr.  Trelawney. 
159 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

"  Have  they  run  ?  "  asked  Mr.  Smollett. 

"All  that  could,  you  may  be  bound,"  returned  the 
doctor;  "but  there's  five  of  them  will  never  run  again." 

1 '  Five ! "  cried  the  captain.  ■ '  Come,  that's  better.  Five 
against  three  leaves  us  four  to  nine.  That's  better  odds 
than  we  had  at  starting.  We  were  seven  to  nineteen 
then,  or  thought  we  were,  and  that's  as  bad  to  bear."  * 

*  The  mutineers  were  soon  only  eight  in  number,  for  the  man  shot  by 
Mr.  Trelawney  on  board  the  schooner  died  that  same  evening  of  his 
wound.  But  this  was,  of  course,  not  known  till  after  by  the  faithful 
party. 


160 


PART  V 

MY  SEA  ADVENTURE 


CHAPTER  XXII 

HOW  MY  SEA  ADVENTURE  BEGAN 

THERE  was  no  return  of  the  mutineers  —  not  so 
much  as  another  shot  out  of  the  woods.  They 
had"  got  their  rations  for  that  day  "  as  the  captain  put  it, 
and  we  had  the  place  to  ourselves  and  a  quiet  time  to 
overhaul  the  wounded  and  get  dinner.  Squire  and  I 
cooked  outside  in  spite  of  the  danger,  and  even  outside 
we  could  hardly  tell  what  we  were  at,  for  horror  of  the 
loud  groans  that  reached  us  from  the  doctor's  patients. 

Out  of  the  eight  men  who  had  fallen  in  the  action, 
only  three  still  breathed  —  that  one  of  the  pirates  who 
had  been  shot  at  the  loophole,  Hunter,  and  Captain 
Smollett ;  and  of  these  the  first  two  were  as  good  as 
dead;  the  mutineer,  indeed,  died  under  the  doctor's 
knife,  and  Hunter,  do  what  we  could,  never  recovered 
consciousness  in  this  world.  He  lingered  all  day,  breath- 
ing loudly  like  the  old  buccaneer  at  home  in  his  apo- 
plectic fit ;  but  the  bones  of  his  chest  had  been  crushed 
by  the  blow  and  his  skull  fractured  in  falling,  and  some 
time  in  the  following  night,  without  sign  or  sound,  he 
went  to  his  Maker. 

As  for  the  captain,  his  wounds  were  grievous  indeed, 
but  not  dangerous.  No  organ  was  fatally  injured.  An- 
derson's ball  —  for  it  was  Job  that  shot  him  first  —  had 

163 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

broken  his  shoulder-blade  and  touched  the  lung,  not 
badly;  the  second  had  only  torn  and  displaced  some 
muscles  in  the  calf.  He  was  sure  to  recover,  the  doctor 
said,  but,  in  the  meantime  and  for  weeks  to  come,  he 
must  not  walk  nor  move  his  arm,  nor  so  much  as  speak 
when  he  could  help  it. 

My  own  accidental  cut  across  the  knuckles  was  a  flea- 
bite.  Doctor  Livesey  patched  it  up  with  plaster,  and 
pulled  my  ears  for  me  into  the  bargain. 

After  dinner  the  squire  and  the  doctor  sat  by  the  cap- 
tain's side  a  while  in  consultation ;  and  when  they  had 
talked  to  their  hearts'  content,  it  being  then  a  little  past 
noon,  the  doctor  took  up  his  hat  and  pistols,  girt  on  a 
cutlass,  put  the  chart  in  his  pocket,  and  with  a  musket 
over  his  shoulder,  crossed  the  palisade  on  the  north  side, 
and  set  off  briskly  through  the  trees. 

Gray  and  I  were  sitting  together  at  the  far  end  of  the 
block-house,  to  be  out  of  earshot  of  our  officers  con- 
sulting ;  and  Gray  took  his  pipe  out  of  his  mouth  and 
fairly  forgot  to  put  it  back  again,  so  thunder-struck  he 
was  at  this  occurrence. 

"Why,  in  the  name  of  Davy  Jones,"  said  he,  "is  Dr. 
Livesey  mad  ?  " 

1 ■  Why,  no, "  says  I.  • ■  He's  about  the  last  of  this  crew 
for  that,  I  take  it." 

"Well,  shipmate,"  said  Gray,  "mad  he  may  not  be; 
but  if  he's  not,  you  mark  my  words,  /  am." 

"I  take  it,"  replied  I,  "the  doctor  has  his  idea;  and 
if  I  am  right,  he's  going  now  to  see  Ben  Gunn." 

I  was  right,  as  appeared  later;  but,  in  the  meantime, 
the  house  being  stifling  hot,  and  the  little  patch  of  sand 
inside  the  palisade  ablaze  with  midday  sun,  I  began  to 

164 


HOW  MY  SEA  ADVENTURE  BEGAN 

get  another  thought  into  my  head,  which  was  not  by 
any  means  so  right.  What  I  began  to  do  was  to  envy 
the  doctor,  walking  in  the  cool  shadow  of  the  woods, 
with  the  birds  about  him,  and  the  pleasant  smell  of  the 
pines,  while  I  sat  grilling,  with  my  clothes  stuck  to  the 
hot  resin,  and  so  much  blood  about  me,  and  so  many 
poor  dead  bodies  lying  all  around,  that  I  took  a  disgust 
of  the  place  that  was  almost  as  strong  as  fear. 

All  the  time  I  was  washing  out  the  block-house,  and 
then  washing  up  the  things  from  dinner,  this  disgust 
and  envy  kept  growing  stronger  and  stronger,  till  at 
last,  being  near  a  bread-bag,  and  no  one  then  observing 
me,  I  took  the  first  step  towards  my  escapade,  and  filled 
both  pockets  of  my  coat  with  biscuit. 

I  was  a  fool,  if  you  like,  and  certainly  I  was  going  to 
do  a  foolish,  over-bold  act;  but  I  was  determined  to  do 
it  with  all  the  precautions  in  my  power.  These  biscuits, 
should  anything  befall  me,  would  keep  me,  at  least,  from 
starving  till  far  on  in  the  next  day. 

The  next  thing  I  laid  hold  of  was  a  brace  of  pistols, 
and  as  I  already  had  a  powder-horn  and  bullets,  I  felt 
myself  well  supplied  with  arms. 

As  for  the  scheme  I  had  in  my  head,  it  was  not  a  bad 
one  in  itself.  I  was  to  go  down  the  sandy  spit  that 
divides  the  anchorage  on  the  east  from  the  open  sea, 
find  the  white  rock  I  had  observed  last  evening,  and 
ascertain  whether  it  was  there  or  not  that  Ben  Gunn 
had  hidden  his  boat;  a  thing  quite  worth  doing,  as  I 
still  believe.  But  as  I  was  certain  I  should  not  be  al- 
lowed to  leave  the  enclosure,  my  only  plan  was  to  take 
French  leave,  and  slip  out  when  nobody  was  watching; 
and  that  was  so  bad  a  way  of  doing  it  as  made  the  thing 

165 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

itself  wrong.  But  I  was  only  a  boy,  and  I  had  made  my 
mind  up. 

Well,  as  things  at  last  fell  out,  I  found  an  admirable 
opportunity.  The  squire  and  Gray  were  busy  helping 
the  captain  with  his  bandages;  the  coast  was  clear;  I 
made  a  bolt  for  it  over  the  stockade  and  into  the  thickest 
of  the  trees,  and  before  my  absence  was  observed  I  was 
out  of  cry  of  my  companions. 

This  was  my  second  folly,  far  worse  than  the  first,  as 
I  left  but  two  sound  men  to  guard  the  house ;  but  like 
the  first,  it  was  a  help  towards  saving  all  of  us. 

I  took  my  way  straight  for  the  east  coast  of  the  isl- 
and, for  I  was  determined  to  go  down  the  sea  side  of 
the  spit  to  avoid  all  chance  of  observation  from  the  an- 
chorage. It  was  already  late  in  the  afternoon,  although 
still  warm  and  sunny.  As  I  continued  to  thread  the  tall 
woods  I  could  hear  from  far  before  me  not  only  the  con- 
tinuous thunder  of  the  surf,  but  a  certain  tossing  of  foli- 
age and  grinding  of  boughs  which  showed  me  the  sea 
breeze  had  set  in  higher  than  usual.  Soon  cool  draughts 
of  air  began  to  reach  me ;  and  a  few  steps  farther  I  came 
forth  into  the  open  borders  of  the  grove,  and  saw  the  sea 
lying  blue  and  sunny  to  the  horizon,  and  the  surf  tum- 
bling and  tossing  its  foam  along  the  beach. 

I  have  never  seen  the  sea  quiet  round  Treasure  Island. 
The  sun  might  blaze  overhead,  the  air  be  without  a 
breath,  the  surface  smooth  and  blue,  but  still  these  great 
rollers  would  be  running  along  all  the  external  coast, 
thundering  and  thundering  by  day  and  night;  and  I 
scarce  believe  there  is  one  spot  in  the  island  where  a 
man  would  be  out  of  earshot  of  their  noise. 

I  walked  along  beside  the  surf  with  great  enjoyment, 
.166 


HOW  MY  SEA  ADVENTURE  BEGAN 

till,  thinking  I  was  now  got  far  enough  to  the  south,  I 
took  the  cover  of  some  thick  bushes,  and  crept  warily 
up  to  the  ridge  of  the  spit. 

Behind  me  was  the  sea,  in  front  the  anchorage.  The 
sea  breeze,  as  though  it  had  the  sooner  blown  itself  out 
by  its  unusual  violence,  was  already  at  an  end ;  it  had 
been  succeeded  by  light,  variable  airs  from  the  south  and 
south-east,  carrying  great  banks  of  fog ;  and  the  anchor- 
age, under  lee  of  Skeleton  Island,  lay  still  and  leaden  as 
when  first  we  entered  it.  The  Hispaniola,  in  that  un- 
broken mirror,  was  exactly  portrayed  from  the  truck  to 
the  water-line,  the  Jolly  Roger  hanging  from  her  peak. 

Alongside  lay  one  of  the  gigs,  Silver  in  the  stern-sheets 

—  him  I  could  always  recognise — while  a  couple  of 
men  were  leaning  over  the  stern  bulwarks,  one  of  them 
with  a  red  cap  —  the  very  rogue  that  I  had  seen  some 
hours  before  stride-legs  upon  the  palisade.  Apparently 
they  were  talking  and  laughing,  though  at  that  distance 

—  upwards  of  a  mile  —  I  could,  of  course,  hear  no  word 
of  what  was  said.  All  at  once,  there  began  the  most 
horrid,  unearthly  screaming,  which  at  first  startled  me 
badly,  though  I  had  soon  remembered  the  voice  of  Cap- 
tain Flint,  and  even  thought  I  could  make  out  the  bird 
by  her  bright  plumage  as  she  sat  perched  upon  her 
master's  wrist. 

Soon  after  the  jolly-boat  shoved  off  and  pulled  for 
shore,  and  the  man  with  the  red  cap  and  his  comrade 
went  below  by  the  cabin  companion. 

Just  about  the  same  time  the  sun  had  gone  down  be- 
hind the  Spy-glass,  and  as  the  fog  was  collecting  rapidly, 
it  began  to  grow  dark  in  earnest.  I  saw  I  must  lose  no 
time  if  I  were  to  find  the  boat  that  evening. 

167 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

The  white  rock,  visible  enough  above  the  brush,  was 
still  some  eighth  of  a  mile  further  down  the  spit,  and  it 
took  me  a  goodish  while  to  get  up  with  it,  crawling,  often 
on  all-fours,  among  the  scrub.  Night  had  almost  come 
when  I  laid  my  hand  on  its  rough  sides.  Right  below 
it  there  was  an  exceedingly  small  hollow  of  green  turf, 
hidden  by  banks  and  a  thick  underwood  about  knee- 
deep,  that  grew  there  very  plentifully ;  and  in  the  centre 
of  the  dell,  sure  enough,  a  little  tent  of  goat-skins,  like 
what  the  gipsies  carry  about  with  them  in  England. 

I  dropped  into  the  hollow,  lifted  the  side  of  the  tent, 
and  there  was  Ben  Gunn's  boat  —  home-made  if  ever 
anything  was  home-made :  a  rude,  lop-sided  framework 
of  tough  wood,  and  stretched  upon  that  a  covering  of 
goat-skin,  with  the  hair  inside.  The  thing  was  extremely 
small,  even  for  me,  and  I  can  hardly  imagine  that  it  could 
have  floated  with  a  full-sized  man.  There  was  one 
thwart  set  as  low  as  possible,  a  kind  of  stretcher  in  the 
bows,  and  a  double  paddle  for  propulsion. 

I  had  not  then  seen  a  coracle,  such  as  the  ancient 
Britons  made,  but  I  have  seen  one  since,  and  I  can  give 
you  no  fairer  idea  of  Ben  Gunn's  boat  than  by  saying 
it  was  like  the  first  and  the  worst  coracle  ever  made 
by  man.  But  the  great  advantage  of  the  coracle  it  cer- 
tainly possessed,  for  it  was  exceedingly  light  and  port- 
able. 

Well,  now  that  I  had  found  the  boat,  you  would  have 
thought  I  had  had  enough  of  truantry  for  once;  but, 
in  the  meantime,  I  had  taken  another  notion,  and  become 
so  obstinately  fond  of  it,  that  I  would  have  carried  it  out, 
I  believe,  in  the  teeth  of  Captain  Smollett  himself.  This 
was  to  slip  out  under  cover  of  the  night,  cut  the  Hi§pan- 

168 


HOW  MY   SEA   ADVENTURE   BEGAN 

tola  adrift,  and  let  her  go  ashore  where  she  fancied.  I 
had  quite  made  up  my  mind  that  the  mutineers,  after 
their  repulse  of  the  morning,  had  nothing  nearer  their 
hearts  than  to  up  anchor  and  away  to  sea ;  this,  I  thought, 
it  would  be  a  fine  thing  to  prevent,  and  now  that  I  had 
seen  how  they  left  their  watchmen  unprovided  with  a 
boat,  I  thought  it  might  be  done  with  little  risk. 

Down  I  sat  to  wait  for  darkness,  and  made  a  hearty 
meal  of  biscuit.  It  was  a  night  out  of  ten  thousand  for 
my  purpose.  The  fog  had  now  buried  all  heaven.  As 
the  last  rays  of  daylight  dwindled  and  disappeared,  abso- 
lute blackness  settled  down  on  Treasure  Island.  And 
when,  at  last,  I  shouldered  the  coracle,  and  groped  my 
way  stumblingly  out  of  the  hollow  where  I  had  supped, 
there  were  but  two  points  visible  on  the  whole  anchorage. 

One  was  the  great  fire  on  shore,  by  which  the  defeated 
pirates  lay  carousing  in  the  swamp.  The  other,  a  mere 
blur  of  light  upon  the  darkness,  indicated  the  position  of 
the  anchored  ship.  She  had  swung  round  to  the  ebb  — 
her  bow  was  now  towards  me  —  the  only  lights  on 
board  were  in  the  cabin;  and  what  I  saw  was  merely  a 
reflection  on  the  fog  of  the  strong  rays  that  flowed  from 
the  stern  window. 

The  ebb  had  already  run  some  time,  and  I  had  to 
wade  through  a  long  belt  of  swampy  sand,  where  I  sank 
several  times  above  the  ankle,  before  I  came  to  the  edge 
of  the  retreating  water,  and  wading  a  little  way  in,  with 
some  strength  and  dexterity,  set  my  coracle,  keel  down- 
wards, on  the  surface. 


169 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

THE  EBB-TIDE  RUNS 

The  coracle  —  as  I  had  ample  reason  to  know  before  I 
was  done  with  her  —  was  a  very  safe  boat  for  a  person 
of  my  height  and  weight,  both  buoyant  and  clever  in  a 
seaway ;  but  she  was  the  most  cross-grained  lop-sided 
craft  to  manage.  Do  as  you  pleased,  she  always  made 
more  leeway  than  anything  else,  and  turning  round  and 
round  was  the  manoeuvre  she  was  best  at.  Even  Ben 
Gunn  himself  has  admitted  that  she  was  M  queer  to 
handle  till  you  knew  her  way." 

Certainly  I  did  not  know  her  way.  She  turned  in 
every  direction  but  the  one  I  was  bound  to  go;  the 
most  part  of  the  time  we  were  broadside  on,  and  I  am 
very  sure  I  never  should  have  made  the  ship  at  all  but 
for  the  tide.  By  good  fortune,  paddle  as  I  pleased,  the 
tide  was  still  sweeping  me  down ;  and  there  lay  the 
Hispaniola  right  in  the  fair  way,  hardly  to  be  missed. 

First  she  loomed  before  me  like  a  blot  of  something 
yet  blacker  than  darkness,  then  her  spars  and  hull  began 
to  take  shape,  and  the  next  moment,  as  it  seemed  (for, 
the  further  I  went,  the  brisker  grew  the  current  of  the 
ebb),  I  was  alongside  of  her  hawser,  and  had  laid  hold. 

The  hawser  was  as  taut  as  a  bowstring,  and  the  cur- 
rent so  strong  she  pulled  upon  her  anchor.     All  round 

170 


THE  EBB-TIDE  RUNS 

the  hull,  in  the  blackness,  the  rippling  current  bubbled 
and  chattered  like  a  little  mountain  stream.  One  cut 
with  my  sea-gully,  and  the  Hispaniola  would  go  hum- 
ming down  the  tide. 

So  far  so  good ;  but  it  next  occurred  to  my  recollec- 
tion that  a  taut  hawser,  suddenly  cut,  is  a  thing  as  dan- 
gerous as  a  kicking  horse.  Ten  to  one,  if  I  were  so 
foolhardy  as  to  cut  the  Hispaniola  from  her  anchor,  I 
and  the  coracle  would  be  knocked  clean  out  of  the  water. 

This  brought  me  to  a  full  stop,  and  if  fortune  had  not 
again  particularly  favoured  me,  I  should  have  had  to 
abandon  my  design.  But  the  light  airs  which  had  be- 
gun blowing  from  the  south-east  and  south  had  hauled 
round  after  nightfall  into  the  south-west.  Just  while  I 
was  meditating,  a  puff  came,  caught  the  Hispaniola,  and 
forced  her  up  into  the  current;  and  to  my  great  joy,  I  felt 
the  hawser  slacken  in  my  grasp,  and  the  hand  by  which 
I  held  it  dip  for  a  second  under  water. 

With  that  I  made  my  mind  up,  took  out  my  gully, 
opened  it  with  my  teeth,  and  cut  one  strand  after  an- 
other, till  the  vessel  swung  only  by  two.  Then  I  lay 
quiet,  waiting  to  sever  these  last  when  the  strain  should 
be  once  more  lightened  by  a  breath  of  wind. 

All  this  time  I  had  heard  the  sound  of  loud  voices  from 
the  cabin ;  but,  to  say  truth,  my  mind  had  been  so  en- 
tirely taken  up  with  other  thoughts  that  I  had  scarcely 
given  ear.  Now,  however,  when  I  had  nothing  else  to 
do,  I  began  to  pay  more  heed. 

One  I  recognised  for  the  coxswain's,  Israel  Hands, 
that  had  been  Flint's  gunner  in  former  days.  The  other 
was,  of  course,  my  friend  of  the  red  night-cap.  Both 
men  were  plainly  the  worse  of  drink,  and  they  were 

171 


TREASURE   ISLAND 

still  drinking;  for,  even  while  I  was  listening,  one  of 
them,  with  a  drunken  cry,  opened  the  stern  window 
and  threw  out  something,  which  I  divined  to  be  an 
empty  bottle.  But  they  were  not  only  tipsy;  it  was 
plain  that  they  were  furiously  angry.  Oaths  flew  like 
hailstones,  and  every  now  and  then  there  came  forth 
such  an  explosion  as  I  thought  was  sure  to  end  in 
blows.  But  each  time  the  quarrel  passed  off,  and  the 
voices  grumbled  lower  for  a  while,  until  the  next  crisis 
came,  and,  in  its  turn,  passed  away  without  result. 

On  shore,  I  could  see  the  glow  of  the  great  camp  fire 
burning  warmly  through  the  shore-side  trees.  Some 
one  was  singing,  a  dull,  old,  droning  sailor's  song,  with 
a  droop  and  a  quaver  at  the  end  of  every  verse,  and 
seemingly  no  end  to  it  at  all  but  the  patience  of  the 
singer.  I  had  heard  it  on  the  voyage  mare  than  once, 
and  remembered  these  words: 

"  But  one  man  of  her  crew  alive, 
What  put  to  sea  with  seventy-five." 

And  I  thought  it  was  a  ditty  rather  too  dolefully  appro- 
priate for  a  company  that  had  met  such  cruel  losses  in 
the  morning.  But,  indeed,  from  what  I  saw,  all  these 
buccaneers  were  as  callous  as  the  sea  they  sailed  on. 

At  last  the  breeze  came;  the  schooner  sidled  and 
drew  nearer  in  the  dark ;  I  felt  the  hawser  slacken  once 
more,  and  with  a  good,  tough  effort,  cut  the  last  fibres 
through. 

The  breeze  had  but  little  action  on  the  coracle,  and  I 
was  almost  instantly  swept  against  the  bows  of  the  His- 
paniola.     At  the  same  time  the  schooner  began  to  turn 


THE  EBB-TIDE  RUNS 

upon  her  heel,  spinning  slowly,  end  for  end,  across  the 
current. 

I  wrought  like  a  fiend,  for  I  expected  every  moment 
to  be  swamped;  and  since  I  found  I  could  not  push  the 
coracle  directly  off,  I  now  shoved  straight  astern.  At 
length  I  was  clear  of  my  dangerous  neighbour;  and  just 
as  I  gave  the  last  impulsion,  my  hands  came  across  a 
light  cord  that  was  trailing  overboard  across  the  stern 
bulwarks.     Instantly  I  grasped  it. 

Why  I  should  have  done  so  I  can  hardly  say.  It  was 
at  first  mere  instinct;  but  once  I  had  it  in  my  hands  and 
found  it  fast,  curiosity  began  to  get  the  upper  hand,  and 
I  determined  I  should  have  one  look  through  the  cabin 
window. 

I  pulled  in  hand  over  hand  on  the  cord,  and,  when  I 
judged  myself  near  enough,  rose  at  infinite  risk  to  about 
half  my  height,  and  thus  commanded  the  roof  and  a 
slice  of  the  interior  of  the  cabin. 

By  this  time  the  schooner  and  her  little  consort  were 
gliding  pretty  swiftly  through  the  water;  indeed,  we  had 
already  fetched  up  level  with  the  camp  fire.  The  ship 
was  talking,  as  sailors  say,  loudly,  treading  the  innu- 
merable ripples  with  an  incessant  weltering  splash ;  and 
until  I  got  my  eye  above  the  window-sill  I  could  not 
comprehend  why  the  watchmen  had  taken  no  alarm. 
One  glance,  however,  was  sufficient ;  and  it  was  only 
one  glance  that  I  durst  take  from  that  unsteady  skiff. 
It  showed  me  Hands  and  his  companion  locked  to- 
gether in  deadly  wrestle,  each  with  a  hand  upon  the 
other's  throat. 

I  dropped  upon  the  thwart  again,  none  too  soon,  for 
I  was  near  overboard.     I  could  see  nothing  for  the  mo- 

»73 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

ment,  but  these  two  furious,  encrimsoned  faces,  sway- 
ing together  under  the  smoky  lamp;  and  I  shut  my  eyes 
to  let  them  grow  once  more  familiar  with  the  darkness. 
The  endless  ballad  had  come  to  an  end  at  last,  and 
the  whole  diminished  company  about  the  camp  fire  had 
broken  into  the  chorus  I  had  heard  so  often: 

"  Fifteen  men  on  the  dead  man's  chest  — 
Yo-ho-ho,  and  a  bottle  of  rum ! 
Drink  and  the  devil  had  done  for  the  rest  — 
Yo-ho-ho,  and  a  bottle  of  rum!" 

I  was  just  thinking  how  busy  drink  and  the  devil  were 
at  that  very  moment  in  the  cabin  of  the  Hispaniola,  when 
I  was  surprised  by  a  sudden  lurch  of  the  coracle.  At 
the  same  moment  she  yawed  sharply  and  seemed  to 
change  her  course.  The  speed  in  the  meantime  had 
strangely  increased. 

I  opened  my  eyes  at  once.  All  round  me  were  little 
ripples,  combing  over  with  a  sharp,  bristling  sound  and 
slightly  phosphorescent.  The  Hispaniola  herself,  a  few 
yards  in  whose  wake  I  was  still  being  whirled  along, 
seemed  to  stagger  in  her  course,  and  I  saw  her  spars 
toss  a  little  against  the  blackness  of  the  night;  nay,  as  I 
looked  longer,  I  made  sure  she  also  was  wheeling  to  the 
southward. 

I  glanced  over  my  shoulder,  and  my  heart  jumped 
against  my  ribs.  There,  right  behind  me,  was  the  glow 
of  the  camp  fire.  The  current  had  turned  at  right  angles, 
sweeping  round  along  with  it  the  tall  schooner  and  the 
little  dancing  coracle;  ever  quickening,  ever  bubbling 
higher,  ever  muttering  louder,  it  went  spinning  through 
the  narrows  for  the  open  sea. 

174 


THE   EBB-TIDE  RUNS 

Suddenly  the  schooner  in  front  of  me  gave  a  violent 
yaw,  turning,  perhaps,  through  twenty  degrees ;  and  al- 
most at  the  same  moment  one  shout  followed  another 
from  on  board ;  I  could  hear  feet  pounding  on  the  com- 
panion ladder;  and  I  knew  that  the  two  drunkards  had 
at  last  been  interrupted  in  their  quarrel  and  awakened  to 
a  sense  of  their  disaster. 

I  lay  down  flat  in  the  bottom  of  that  wretched  skiff, 
and  devoutly  recommended  my  spirit  to  its  Maker.  At 
the  end  of  the  straits,  I  made  sure  we  must  fall  into  some 
bar  of  raging  breakers,  where  all  my  troubles  would  be 
ended  speedily;  and  though  I  could,  perhaps,  bear  to 
die,  I  could  not  bear  to  look  upon  my  fate  as  it  ap- 
proached. 

So  I  must  have  lain  for  hours,  continually  beaten  to 
and  fro  upon  the  billows,  now  and  again  wetted  with 
flying  sprays,  and  never  ceasing  to  expect  death  at  the 
next  plunge.  Gradually  weariness  grew  upon  me;  a 
numbness,  an  occasional  stupor,  fell  upon  my  mind  even 
in  the  midst  of  my  terrors ;  until  sleep  at  last  supervened, 
and  in  my  sea-tossed  coracle  I  lay  and  dreamed  of  home 
and  the  old  "Admiral  Benbow." 


«75 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

THE  CRUISE   OF  THE  CORACLE 

It  was  broad  day  when  I  awoke,  and  found  myself 
tossing  at  the  south-west  end  of  Treasure  Island.  The 
sun  was  up,  but  was  still  hid  from  me  behind  the  great 
bulk  of  the  Spy-glass,  which  on  this  side  descended  al- 
most to  the  sea  in  formidable  cliffs. 

Haulbowline  Head  and  Mizzen-mast  Hill  were  at 
my  elbow ;  the  hill  bare  and  dark,  the  head  bound  with 
cliffs  forty  or  fifty  feet  high,  and  fringed  with  great 
masses  of  fallen  rock.  I  was  scarce  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
to  seaward,  and  it  was  my  first  thought  to  paddle  in 
and  land. 

That  notion  was  soon  given  over.  Among  the  fallen 
rocks  the  breakers  spouted  and  bellowed;  loud  rever- 
berations, heavy  sprays  flying  and  falling,  succeeded  one 
another  from  second  to  second;  and  I  saw  myself,  if  I 
ventured  nearer,  dashed  to  death  upon  the  rough  shore, 
or  spending  my  strength  in  vain  to  scale  the  beetling 
crags. 

Nor  was  that  all ;  for  crawling  together  on  flat  tables 
of  rock,  or  letting  themselves  drop  into  the  sea  with  loud 
reports,  I  beheld  huge  slimy  monsters  —  soft  snails,  as  it 
were,  of  incredible  bigness  —  two  or  three  score  of  them 
together,  making  the  rocks  to  echo  with  their  barkings. 

176 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CORACLE 

I  have  understood  since  that  they  were  sea  lions,  and 
entirely  harmless.  But  the  lool*  of  them,  added  to  the 
difficulty  of  the  shore  and  the  high  running  of  the  surf, 
was  more  than  enough  to  disgust  me  of  that  landing 
place.  I  felt  willing  rather  to  starve  at  sea  than  to  con- 
front such  perils. 

In  the  meantime  I  had  a  better  chance,  as  I  supposed, 
before  me.  North  of  Haulbowline  Head,  the  land  runs 
in  a  long  way,  leaving,  at  low  tide,  a  long  stretch  of 
yellow  sand.  To  the  north  of  that,  again,  there  comes 
another  cape — Cape  of  the  Woods,  as  it  was  marked 
upon  the  chart — buried  in  tall  green  pines,  which  de- 
scended to  the  margin  of  the  sea. 

I  remembered  what  Silver  had  said  about  the  current 
that  sets  northward  along  the  whole  west  coast  of  Trea- 
sure Island ;  and  seeing  from  my  position  that  I  was  al- 
ready under  its  influence,  I  preferred  to  leave  Haulbow- 
line Head  behind  me,  and  reserve  my  strength  for  an 
attempt  to  land  upon  the  kindlier-looking  Cape  of  the 
Woods. 

There  was  a  great,  smooth  swell  upon  the  sea.  The 
wind  blowing  steady  and  gentle  from  the  south,  there 
was  no  contrariety  between  that  and  the  current,  and 
the  billows  rose  and  fell  unbroken. 

Had  it  been  otherwise,  I  must  long  ago  have  perished ; 
but  as  it  was,  it  is  surprising  how  easily  and  securely 
my  little  and  light  boat  could  ride.  Often,  as  I  still  lay 
at  the  bottom,  and  kept  no  more  than  an  eye  above  the 
gunwale,  I  would  see  a  big  blue  summit  heaving  close 
above  me ;  yet  the  coracle  would  but  bounce  a  little, 
dance  as  if  on  springs,  and  subside  on  the  other  side 
into  the  trough  as  lightly  as  a  bird. 

177 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

I  began  after  a  little  to  grow  very  bold,  and  sat  up  to 
try  my  skill  at  paddling.  But  even  a  small  change  in 
the  disposition  of  the  weight  will  produce  violent  changes 
in  the  behaviour  of  a  coracle.  And  I  had  hardly  moved 
before  the  boat,  giving  up  at  once  her  gentle  dancing 
movement,  ran  straight  down  a  slope  of  water  so  steep 
that  it  made  me  giddy,  and  struck  her  nose,  with  a 
spout  of  spray,  deep  into  the  side  of  the  next  wave. 

I  was  drenched  and  terrified,  and  fell  instantly  back 
into  my  old  position,  whereupon  the  coracle  seemed  to 
find  her  head  again,  and  led  me  as  softly  as  before 
among  the  billows.  It  was  plain  she  was  not  to  be  in- 
terfered with,  and  at  that  rate,  since  I  could  in  no  way 
influence  her  course,  what  hope  had  I  left  of  reaching 
land  ? 

I  began  to  be  horribly  frightened,  but  I  kept  my  head, 
for  all  that.  First,  moving  with  all  care,  I  gradually 
baled  out  the  coracle  with  my  sea-cap ;  then  getting  my 
eye  once  more  above  the  gunwale,  I  set  myself  to  study 
how  it  was  she  managed  to  slip  so  quietly  through  the 
rollers. 

I  found  each  wave,  instead  of  the  big,  smooth  glossy 
mountain  it  looks  from  shore,  or  from  a  vessel's  deck,  was 
for  all  the  world  like  any  range  of  hills  on  the  dry  land, 
full  of  peaks  and  smooth  places  and  valleys.  The  cora- 
cle, left  to  herself,  turning  from  side  to  side,  threaded, 
so  to  speak,  her  way  through  these  lower  parts,  and 
avoided  the  steep  slopes  and  higher,  toppling  summits 
of  the  wave. 

"Well,  now,  "thought  I  to  myself,  "it  is  plain  I  must 
lie  where  I  am,  and  not  disturb  the  balance;  but  it  is 
plain,  also,  that  I  can  put  the  paddle  over  the  side,  and 

178 


THE   CRUISE  OF  THE   CORACLE 

from  time  to  time,  in  smooth  places,  give  her  a  shove  or 
two  towards  land."  No  sooner  thought  upon  than  done. 
There  I  lay  on  my  elbows,  in  the  most  trying  attitude, 
and  every  now  and  again  gave  a  weak  stroke  or  two  to 
turn  her  head  to  shore. 

It  was  very  tiring,  and  slow  work,  yet  I  did  visibly 
gain  ground ;  and,  as  we  drew  near  the  Cape  of  the 
Woods,  though  I  saw  I  must  infallibly  miss  that  point, 
I  had  still  made  some  hundred  yards  of  easting.  I  was, 
indeed,  close  in.  I  could  see  the  cool,  green  tree-tops 
swaying  together  in  the  breeze,  and  I  felt  sure  I  should 
make  the  next  promontory  without  fail. 

It  was  high  time,  for  I  now  began  to  be  tortured  with 
thirst.  The  glow  of  the  sun  from  above,  its  thousand- 
fold reflection  from  the  waves,  the  sea-water  that  fell 
and  dried  upon  me,  caking  my  very  lips  with  salt,  com- 
bined to  make  my  throat  burn  and  my  brain  ache.  The 
sight  of  the  trees  so  near  at  hand  had  almost  made  me 
sick  with  longing;  but  the  current  had  soon  carried  me 
past  the  point;  and,  as  the  next  reach  of  sea  opened  out, 
I  beheld  a  sight  that  changed  the  nature  of  my  thoughts. 

Right  in  front  of  me,  not  half  a  mile  away,  I  beheld 
the  Hi§fianiola  under  sail.  I  made  sure,  of  course,  that 
I  should  be  taken ;  but  I  was  so  distressed  for  want  of 
water,  that  I  scarce  knew  whether  to  be  glad  or  sorry 
at  the  thought;  and,  long  before  I  had  come  to  a  con- 
clusion, surprise  had  taken  entire  possession  of  my  mind, 
and  I  could  do  nothing  but  stare  and  wonder. 

The  Hifpaniola  was  under  her  main-sail  and  two  jibs, 
and  the  beautiful  white  canvas  shone  in  the  sun  like 
snow  or  silver.  When  I  first  sighted  her,  all  her  sails 
were  drawing;  she  was  laying  a  course  about  north- 

179 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

west;  and  I  presumed  the  men  on  board  were  going 
round  the  island  on  their  way  back  to  the  anchorage. 
Presently  she  began  to  fetch  more  and  more  to  the 
westward,  so  that  I  thought  they  had  sighted  me  and 
were  going  about  in  chase.  At  last,  however,  she  fell 
right  into  the  wind's  eye,  was  taken  dead  aback,  and 
stood  there  a  while  helpless,  with  her  sails  shivering. 

"Clumsy  fellows,"  said  I;  "they  must  still  be  drunk 
as  owls."  And  I  thought  how  Captain  Smollett  would 
have  set  them  skipping. 

Meanwhile,  the  schooner  gradually  fell  off,  and  filled 
again  upon  another  tack,  sailed  swiftly  for  a  minute  or 
so,  and  brought  up  once  more  dead  in  the  wind's  eye. 
Again  and  again  was  this  repeated.  To  and  fro,  up  and 
down,  north,  south,  east,  and  west,  the  Hispaniola  sailed 
by  swoops  and  dashes,  and  at  each  repetition  ended  as 
she  had  begun,  with  idly  flapping  canvas.  It  became 
plain  to  me  that  nobody  was  steering.  And,  if  so, 
where  were  the  men  ?  Either  they  were  dead  drunk, 
or  had  deserted  her,  I  thought,  and  perhaps  if  I  could  get 
on  board,  I  might  return  the  vessel  to  her  captain. 

The  current  was  bearing  coracle  and  schooner  south- 
ward at  an  equal  rate.  As  for  the  latter's  sailing,  it  was 
so  wild  and  intermittent,  and  she  hung  each  time  so  long 
in  irons,  that  she  certainly  gained  nothing,  if  she  did  not 
even  lose.  If  only  I  dared  to  sit  up  and  paddle,  I  made 
sure  that  I  could  overhaul  her.  The  scheme  had  an  air 
of  adventure  that  inspired  me,  and  the  thought  of  the 
water  breaker  beside  the  fore  companion  doubled  my 
growing  courage. 

Up  I  got,  was  welcomed  almost  instantly  by  another 
cloud  of  spray,  but  this  time  stuck  to  my  purpose;  and 

1 80 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CORACLE 

set  myself,  with  all  my  strength  and  caution,  to  paddle 
after  the  unsteered  Hi&paniola.  Once  I  shipped  a  sea  so 
heavy  that  I  had  to  stop  and  bail,  with  my  heart  flutter- 
ing like  a  bird ;  but  gradually  I  got  into  the  way  of  the 
thing,  and  guided  my  coracle  among  the  waves,  with 
only  now  and  then  a  blow  upon  her  bows  and  a  dash  of 
foam  in  my  face. 

I  was  now  gaining  rapidly  on  the  schooner;  I  could 
see  the  brass  glisten  on  the  tiller  as  it  banged  about ;  and 
still  no  soul  appeared  upon  her  decks.  I  could  not 
choose  but  suppose  she  was  deserted.  If  not,  the  men 
were  lying  drunk  below,  where  I  might  batten  them 
down,  perhaps,  and  do  what  I  chose  with  the  ship. 

For  some  time  she  had  been  doing  the  worst  thing 
possible  for  me  —  standing  still.  She  headed  nearly  due 
south,  yawing,  of  course,  all  the  time.  Each  time  she 
fell  off  her  sails  partly  filled,  and  these  brought  her,  in  a 
moment,  right  to  the  wind  again.  I  have  said  this  was 
the  worst  thing  possible  for  me;  for  helpless  as  she 
looked  in  this  situation,  with  the  canvas  cracking  like 
cannon,  and  the  blocks  trundling  and  banging  on  the 
deck,  she  still  continued  to  run  away  from  me,  not  only 
with  the  speed  of  the  current,  but  by  the  whole  amount 
of  her  leeway,  which  was  naturally  great. 

But  now,  at  last,  I  had  my  chance.  The  breeze  fell, 
for  some  seconds,  very  low,  and  the  current  gradually 
turning  her,  the  Hispaniola  revolved  slowly  round  her 
centre,  and  at  last  presented  me  her  stern,  with  the  cabin 
window  still  gaping  open,  and  the  lamp  over  the  table 
still  burning  on  into  the  day.  The  main-sail  hung 
drooped  like  a  banner.  She  was  stock-still,  but  for  the 
current. 

181 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

For  the  last  little  while  I  had  even  lost ;  but  now,  re- 
doubling my  efforts,  I  began  once  more  to  overhaul  the 
chase. 

I  was  not  a  hundred  yards  from  her  when  the  wind 
came  again  in  a  clap ;  she  filled  on  the  port  tack,  and 
was  off  again,  stooping  and  skimming  like  a  swallow. 

My  first  impulse  was  one  of  despair,  but  my  second 
was  towards  joy.  Round  she  came,  till  she  was  broad- 
side on  to  me  —  round  still  till  she  had  covered  a  half, 
and  then  two-thirds,  and  then  three-quarters  of  the  dis- 
tance that  separated  us.  I  could  see  the  waves  boiling 
white  under  her  forefoot.  Immensely  tall  she  looked  to 
me  from  my  low  station  in  the  coracle. 

And  then,  of  a  sudden,  I  began  to  comprehend.  I  had 
scarce  time  to  think  —  scarce  time  to  act  and  save  my- 
self. I  was  on  the  summit  of  one  swell  when  the 
schooner  came  stooping  over  the  next.  The  bowsprit 
was  over  my  head.  I  sprang  to  my  feet,  and  leaped, 
stamping  the  coracle  under  water.  With  one  hand  I 
caught  the  jib-boom,  while  my  foot  was  lodged  between 
the  stay  and  the  brace;  and  as  I  still  clung  there  pant- 
ing, a  dull  blow  told  me  that  the  schooner  had  charged 
down  upon  and  struck  the  coracle,  and  that  I  was  left 
without  retreat  on  the  Hispaniola. 


182 


CHAPTER  XXV 

I  STRIKE   THE  JOLLY   ROGER 

I  had  scarce  gained  a  position  on  the  bowsprit,  when 
the  flying  jib  flapped  and  filled  upon  the  other  tack, 
with  a  report  like  a  gun.  The  schooner  trembled  to  her 
keel  under  the  reverse ;  but  next  moment,  the  other  sails 
still  drawing,  the  jib  flapped  back  again,  and  hung  idle. 

This  had  nearly  tossed  me  off  into  the  sea;  and  now 
I  lost  no  time,  crawled  back  along  the  bowsprit,  and 
tumbled  head  foremost  on  the  deck. 

I  was  on  the  lee  side  of  the  forecastle,  and  the  main- 
sail, which  was  still  drawing,  concealed  from  me  a  cer- 
tain portion  of  the  after-deck.  Not  a  soul  was  to  be 
seen.  The  planks,  which  had  not  been  swabbed  since 
the  mutiny,  bore  the  print  of  many  feet;  and  an  empty 
bottle,  broken  by  the  neck,  tumbled  to  and  fro  like  a  live 
thing  in  the  scuppers. 

Suddenly  the  Hi§paniola  came  right  into  the  wind. 
The  jibs  behind  me  cracked  aloud ;  the  rudder  slammed 
to ;  the  whole  ship  gave  a  sickening  heave  and  shudder, 
and  at  the  same  moment  the  main-boom  swung  in- 
board, the  sheet  groaning  in  the  blocks,  and  showed  me 
the  lee  after-deck. 

There  were  the  two  watchmen,  sure  enough :  red-cap 
on  his  back,  as  stiff  as  a  handspike,  with  his  arms 

183 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

stretched  out  like  those  of  a  crucifix,  and  his  teeth 
showing  through  his  open  lips;  Israel  Hands  propped 
against  the  bulwarks,  his  chin  on  his  chest,  his  hands 
lying  open  before  him  on  the  deck,  his  face  as  white, 
under  its  tan,  as  a  tallow  candle. 

For  a  while  the  ship  kept  bucking  and  sidling  like  a 
vicious  horse,  the  sails  filling,  now  on  one  tack,  now  on 
another,  and  the  boom  swinging  to  and  fro  till  the  mast 
groaned  aloud  under  the  strain.  Now  and  again,  too, 
there  would  come  a  cloud  of  light  sprays  over  the  bul- 
wark, and  a  heavy  blow  of  the  ship's  bows  against  the 
swell :  so  much  heavier  weather  was  made  of  it  by  this 
great  rigged  ship  than  by  my  home-made,  lop-sided 
coracle,  now  gone  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea. 

At  every  jump  of  the  schooner,  red-cap  slipped  to  and 
fro ;  but  —  what  was  ghastly  to  behold  —  neither  his  at- 
titude nor  his  fixed  teeth-disclosing  grin  was  anyway 
disturbed  by  this  rough  usage.  At  every  jump,  too, 
Hands  appeared  still  more  to  sink  into  himself  and  settle 
down  upon  the  deck,  his  feet  sliding  ever  the  farther 
out,  and  the  whole  body  canting  towards  the  stern,  so 
that  his  face  became,  little  by  little,  hid  from  me ;  and  at 
last  I  could  see  nothing  beyond  his  ear  and  the  frayed 
ringlet  of  one  whisker. 

At  the  same  time,  I  observed,  around  both  of  them, 
splashes  of  dark  blood  upon  the  planks,  and  began  to  feel 
sure  that  they  had  killed  each  other  in  their  drunken  wrath. 

While  I  was  thus  looking  and  wondering,  in  a  calm 
moment,  when  the  ship  was  still,  Israel  Hands  turned 
partly  round,  and,  with  a  low  moan,  writhed  himselt 
back  to  the  position  in  which  I  had  seen  him  first.  The 
moan,  which  told  of  pain  and  deadly  weakness,  and  the 


I  STRIKE  THE  JOLLY  ROGER 

way  in  which  his  jaw  hung  open,  went  right  to  my 
heart.  But  when  I  remembered  the  talk  I  had  overheard 
from  the  apple  barrel,  all  pity  left  me. 

I  walked  aft  until  I  reached  the  main-mast. 

"Come  aboard,  Mr.  Hands,"  I  said,  ironically. 

He  rolled  his  eyes  round  heavily ;  but  he  was  too  far 
gone  to  express  surprise.  All  he  could  do  was  to  utter 
one  word,  "Brandy." 

It  occurred  to  me  there  was  no  time  to  lose;  and, 
dodging  the  boom  as  it  once  more  lurched  across  the 
deck,  I  slipped  aft,  and  down  the  companion  stairs  into 
the  cabin. 

It  was  such  a  scene  of  confusion  as  you  can  hardly 
fancy.  All  the  lockfast  places  had  been  broken  open  in 
quest  of  the  chart.  The  floor  was  thick  with  mud, 
where  ruffians  had  sat  down  to  drink  or  consult  after 
wading  in  the  marshes  round  their  camp.  The  bulk- 
heads, all  painted  in  clear  white,  and  beaded  round  with 
gilt,  bore  a  pattern  of  dirty  hands.  Dozens  of  empty 
bottles  clinked  together  in  corners  to  the  rolling  of  the 
ship.  One  of  the  doctor's  medical  books  lay  open  on 
the  table,  half  of  the  leaves  gutted  out,  I  suppose,  for 
pipelights.  In  the  midst  of  all  this  the  lamp  still  cast  a 
smoky  glow,  obscure  and  brown  as  umber. 

I  went  into  the  cellar;  all  the  barrels  were  gone,  and 
of  the  bottles  a  most  surprising  number  had  been  drunk 
out  and  thrown  away.  Certainly,  since  the  mutiny 
began,  not  a  man  of  them  could  ever  have  been  sober. 

Foraging  about,  I  found  a  bottle  with  some  brandy  left, 
for  Hands;  and  for  myself  I  routed  out  some  biscuit, 
some  pickled  fruits,  a  great  bunch  of  raisins,  and  a  piece 
of  cheese.     With  these  I  came  on  deck,  put  down  my 

185 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

own  stock  behind  the  rudder  head,  and  well  out  of  the 
coxswain's  reach,  went  forward  to  the  water-breaker, 
and  had  a  good,  deep  drink  of  water,  and  then,  and  not 
till  then,  gave  Hands  the  brandy. 

He  must  have  drunk  a  gill  before  he  took  the  bottle 
from  his  mouth. 

"Aye,"  said  he,  "by  thunder,  but  I  wanted  some  o' 
that!" 

I  had  sat  down  already  in  my  own  corner  and  begun 
to  eat. 

"Much  hurt?"  I  asked  him. 

He  grunted,  or,  rather,  I  might  say,  he  barked. 

"If  that  doctor  was  aboard,"  he  said,  "I'd  be  right 
enough  in  a  couple  of  turns ;  but  I  don't  have  no  man- 
ner of  luck,  you  see,  and  that's  what's  the  matter  with 
me.  As  for  that  swab,  he's  good  and  dead,  he  is,"  he 
added,  indicating  the  man  with  the  red  cap.  ' '  He  warn't 
no  seaman,  anyhow.  And  where  mought  you  have 
come  from  ?  " 

"  Well,"  said  I,  "  I've  come  aboard  to  take  possession 
of  this  ship,  Mr.  Hands ;  and  you'll  please  regard  me  as 
your  captain  until  further  notice." 

He  looked  at  me  sourly  enough,  but  said  nothing. 
Some  of  the  colour  had  come  back  into  his  cheeks, 
though  he  still  looked  very  sick,  and  still  continued  to 
slip  out  and  settle  down  as  the  ship  banged  about. 

' '  By-the-by, "  I  continued, ' '  I  can't  have  these  colours, 
Mr.  Hands;  and,  by  your  leave,  I'll  strike  'em.  Better 
none  than  these." 

And,  again  dodging  the  boom,  I  ran  to  the  colour 
lines,  handed  down  their  cursed  black  flag,  and  chucked 
it  overboard. 

186 


I  STRIKE  THE  JOLLY   ROGER 

"God  save  the  king!  "  said  I,  waving  my  cap;  "and 
there's  an  end  to  Captain  Silver! " 

He  watched  me  keenly  and  slyly,  his  chin  all  the 
while  on  his  breast. 

"I  reckon,"  he  said  at  last — "  I  reckon, Cap'n  Hawkins, 
you'll  kind  of  want  to  get  ashore,  now.  S'pose  we  talks. " 

"Why,  yes,"  says  I,  "with  all  my  heart,  Mr.  Hands. 
Say  on."  And  I  went  back  to  my  meal  with  a  good 
appetite. 

"This  man,"  he  began,  nodding  feebly  at  the  corpse 
— "O'Brien  were  his  name  —  a  rank  Irelander  —  this 
man  and  me  got  the  canvas  on  her,  meaning  for  to  sail 
her  back.  Well,  he's  dead  now,  he  is  —  as  dead  as 
bilge;  and  who's  to  sail  this  ship,  I  don't  see.  Without 
I  gives  you  a  hint,  you  ain't  that  man,  as  far's  I  can  tell. 
Now,  look  here,  you  gives  me  food  and  drink,  and  a  old 
scarf  or  ankecher  to  tie  my  wound  up,  you  do ;  and  I'll 
tell  you  how  to  sail  her;  and  that's  about  square  all 
round,  I  take  it." 

' '  I'll  tell  you  one  thing, "  says  I :  "I'm  not  going  back 
to  Captain  Kidd's  anchorage.  I  mean  to  get  into  North 
Inlet,  and  beach  her  quietly  there." 

"  To  be  sure  you  did,"  he  cried.  "Why,  I  ain't  sich 
an  infernal  lubber,  after  all.  I  can  see,  can't  I  ?  I've 
tried  my  fling,  I  have,  and  I've  lost,  and  it's  you  has  the 
wind  of  me.  North  Inlet  ?  Why,  I  haven't  no  ch'ice, 
not  I !  I'd  help  you  sail  her  up  to  Execution  Dock,  by 
thunder!  so  I  would." 

Well,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  there  was  some  sense  in 
this.  We  struck  our  bargain  on  the  spot.  In  three 
minutes  I  had  the  Hispaniola  sailing  easily  before  the 
wind  along  the  coast  of  Treasure  Island,  with  good 

187 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

hopes  of  turning  the  northern  point  ere  noon,  and  beat- 
ing down  again  as  far  as  North  Inlet  before  high  water, 
when  we  might  beach  her  safely,  and  wait  till  the  sub- 
siding tide  permitted  us  to  land. 

Then  I  lashed  the  tiller  and  went  below  to  my  own  chest, 
where  I  got  a  soft  silk  handkerchief  of  my  mother's.  With 
this,  and  with  my  aid,  Hands  bound  up  the  great  bleeding 
stab  he  had  received  in  the  thigh,  and  after  he  had  eaten 
a  little  and  had  a  swallow  or  two  more  of  the  brandy,  he 
began  to  pick  up  visibly,  sat  straighter  up,  spoke  louder 
and  clearer,  and  looked  in  every  way  another  man. 

The  breeze  served  us  admirably.  We  skimmed  before 
it  like  a  bird,  the  coast  of  the  island  flashing  by,  and  the 
view  changing  every  minute.  Soon  we  were  past  the 
high  lands  and  bowling  beside  low,  sandy  country, 
sparsely  dotted  with  dwarf  pines,  and  soon  we  were 
beyond  that  again,  and  had  turned  the  corner  of  the 
rocky  hill  that  ends  the  island  on  the  north. 

I  was  greatly  elated  with  my  new  command,  and 
pleased  with  the  bright,  sunshiny  weather  and  these 
different  prospects  of  the  coast.  I  had  now  plenty  of 
water  and  good  things  to  eat,  and  my  conscience,  which 
had  smitten  me  hard  for  my  desertion,  was  quieted  by 
the  great  conquest  I  had  made.  I  should,  I  think,  have 
had  nothing  left  me  to  desire  but  for  the  eyes  of  the  cox- 
swain as  they  followed  me  derisively  about  the  deck, 
and  the  odd  smile  that  appeared  continually  on  his  face. 
It  was  a  smile  that  had  in  it  something  both  of  pain  and 
weakness  —  a  haggard,  old  man's  smile ;  but  there  was, 
besides  that,  a  grain  of  derision,  a  shadow  of  treachery 
in  his  expression  as  he  craftily  watched,  and  watched, 
and  watched  me  at  my  work. 

188 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

ISRAEL   HANDS 

The  wind,  serving  us  to  a  desire,  now  hauled  into 
the  west.  We  could  run  so  much  the  easier  from  the 
north-east  corner  of  the  island  to  the  mouth  of  the  North 
Inlet.  Only,  as  we  had  no  power  to  anchor,  and  dared 
not  beach  her  till  the  tide  had  flowed  a  good  deal  far- 
ther, time  hung  on  our  hands.  The  coxswain  told 
me  how  to  lay  the  ship  to;  after  a  good  many  trials 
I  succeeded,  and  we  both  sat  in  silence,  over  another 
meal. 

"Cap'n,"  said  he,  at  length,  with  that  same  uncom- 
fortable smile,  "  here's  my  old  shipmate,  O'Brien ;  s'pose 
you  was  to  heave  him  overboard.  I  ain't  partic'lar  as  a 
rule,  and  I  don't  take  no  blame  for  settling  his  hash ;  but 
I  don't  reckon  him  ornamental,  now,  do  you  ?  " 

"  I'm  not  strong  enough,  and  I  don't  like  the  job;  and 
there  he  lies,  for  me,"  said  I. 

11  This  here's  an  unlucky  ship  —  this  Hi§paniola,  Jim, " 
he  went  on,  blinking.  "There's  a  power  of  men  been 
killed  in  this  Hifyaniola  —  a  sight  o'  poor  seamen  dead 
and  gone  since  you  and  me  took  ship  to  Bristol.  I  never 
seen  sich  dirty  luck,  not  I.  There  was  this  here  O'Brien, 
now  —  he's  dead,  ain't  he  ?  Well,  now,  I'm  no  scholar, 
and  you're  a  lad  as  can  read  and  figure ;  and,  to  put  it 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

straight,  do  you  take  it  as  a  dead  man  is  dead  for  good, 
or  do  he  come  alive  again  ?  " 

'  ■  You  can  kill  the  body,  Mr.  Hands,  but  not  the  spirit ; 
you  must  know  that  already,"  I  replied.  "O'Brien 
there  is  in  another  world,  and  maybe  watching  us." 

" Ah ! "  says  he.  "Well,  that's  unfort'nate  —  appears 
as  if  killing  parties  was  a  waste  of  time.  Howsomever, 
sperrits  don't  reckon  for  much,  by  what  I've  seen.  I'll 
chance  it  with  the  sperrits,  Jim.  And  now,  you've 
spoke  up  free,  and  I'll  take  it  kind  if  you'd  step  down 
into  that  there  cabin  and  get  me  a  —  well,  a  —  shiver 
my  timbers!  I  can't  hit  the  name  on  't;  well,  you  get 
me  a  bottle  of  wine,  Jim  —  this  here  brandy's  too  strong 
for  my  head." 

Now,  the  coxswain's  hesitation  seemed  to  be  unnat- 
ural; and  as  for  the  notion  of  his  preferring  wine  to 
brandy,  I  entirely  disbelieved  it.  The  whole  story  was 
a  pretext.  He  wanted  me  to  leave  the  deck  —  so  much 
was  plain ;  but  with  what  purpose  I  could  in  no  way 
imagine.  His  eyes  never  met  mine ;  they  kept  wander- 
ing to  and  fro,  up  and  down,  now  with  a  look  to  the 
sky,  now  with  a  flitting  glance  upon  the  dead  O'Brien. 
All  the  time  he  kept  smiling,  and  putting  his  tongue  out 
in  the  most  guilty,  embarrassed  manner,  so  that  a  child 
could  have  told  that  he  was  bent  on  some  deception.  I 
was  prompt  with  my  answer,  however,  for  I  saw  where 
my  advantage  lay ;  and  that  with  a  fellow  so  densely 
stupid  I  could  easily  conceal  my  suspicions  to  the 
end. 

"  Some  wine  ?  "  I  said.  "  Far  better.  Will  you  have 
white  or  red  ?  " 

"Well,  I  reckon  it's  about  the  blessed  same  to  me, 
190 


ISRAEL  HANDS 

shipmate,"  he  replied;  "so  it's  strong,  and  plenty  of  it, 
what's  the  odds  ?  " 

"All  right,"  I  answered.  "I'll  bring  you  port,  Mr. 
Hands.     But  I'll  have  to  dig  for  it." 

With  that  I  scuttled  down  the  companion  with  all  the 
noise  I  could,  slipped  off  my  shoes,  ran  quietly  along 
the  sparred  gallery,  mounted  the  forecastle  ladder,  and 
popped  my  head  out  of  the  fore  companion.  I  knew 
he  would  not  expect  to  see  me  there ;  yet  I  took  every 
precaution  possible ;  and  certainly  the  worst  of  my  sus- 
picions proved  too  true. 

He  had  risen  from  his  position  to  his  hands  and  knees ; 
and,  though  his  leg  obviously  hurt  him  pretty  sharply 
when  he  moved  —  for  I  could  hear  him  stifle  a  groan  — 
yet  it  was  at  a  good,  rattling  rate  that  he  trailed  himself 
across  the  deck.  In  half  a  minute  he  had  reached  the 
port  scuppers,  and  picked,  out  of  a  coil  of  rope,  a  long 
knife,  or  rather  a  short  dirk,  discoloured  to  the  hilt  with 
blood.  He  looked  upon  it  for  a  moment,  thrusting 
forth  his  under  jaw,  tried  the  point  upon  his  hand,  and 
then,  hastily  concealing  it  in  the  bosom  of  his  jacket, 
trundled  back  again  into  his  old  place  against  the  bul- 
wark. 

This  was  all  that  I  required  to  know.  Israel  could 
move  about;  he  was  now  armed;  and  if  he  had  been  at 
so  much  trouble  to  get  rid  of  me,  it  was  plain  that  I  was 
meant  to  be  the  victim.  What  he  would  do  afterwards 
—  whether  he  would  try  to  crawl  right  across  the  island 
from  North  Inlet  to  the  camp  among  the  swamps,  or 
whether  he  would  fire  Long  Tom,  trusting  that  his  own 
comrades  might  come  first  to  help  him,  was,  of  course, 
more  than  I  could  say. 

191 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

Yet  I  felt  sure  that  I  could  trust  him  in  one  point, 
since  in  that  our  interests  jumped  together,  and  that  was 
in  the  disposition  of  the  schooner.  We  both  desired  to 
have  her  stranded  safe  enough,  in  a  sheltered  place,  and 
so  that,  when  the  time  came,  she  could  be  got  off  again 
with  as  little  labour  and  danger  as  might  be ;  and  until 
that  was  done  I  considered  that  my  life  would  certainly 
be  spared. 

While  I  was  thus  turning  the  business  over  in  my 
mind,  I  had  not  been  idle  with  my  body.  I  had  stolen 
back  to  the  cabin,  slipped  once  more  into  my  shoes,  and 
laid  my  hand  at  random  on  a  bottle  of  wine,  and  now, 
with  this  for  an  excuse,  I  made  my  re-appearance  on 
the  deck. 

Hands  lay  as  I  had  left  him,  all  fallen  together  in  a 
bundle,  and  with  his  eyelids  lowered,  as  though  he 
were  too  weak  to  bear  the  light.  He  looked  up,  how- 
ever, at  my  coming,  knocked  the  neck  off  the  bottle, 
like  a  man  who  had  done  the  same  thing  often,  and 
took  a  good  swig,  with  his  favourite  toast  of  "Here's 
luck! "  Then  he  lay  quiet  for  a  little,  and  then,  pulling 
out  a  stick  of  tobacco,  begged  me  to  cut  him  a  quid. 

"  Cut  me  a  junk  o'  that,"  says  he,  "  for  I  haven't  no 
knife,  and  hardly  strength  enough,  so  be  as  I  had.  Ah, 
Jim,  Jim,  I  reckon  I've  missed  stays!  Cut  me  a  quid, 
as'll  likely  be  the  last,  lad ;  for  I'm  for  my  long  home, 
and  no  mistake." 

"Well,"  said  I,  "I'll  cut  you  some  tobacco;  but  if  I 
was  you  and  thought  myself  so  badly,  I  would  go  to 
my  prayers,  like  a  Christian  man." 

"Why  ?"  said  he.     "Now,  you  tell  me  why." 

" Why  ?"  I  cried.  "You  were  asking  me  just  now 
192 


ISRAEL   HANDS 

about  the  dead.  You've  broken  your  trust;  you've 
lived  in  sin  and  lies  and  blood ;  there's  a  man  you  killed 
lying  at  your  feet  this  moment;  and  you  ask  me  why! 
For  God's  mercy,  Mr.  Hands,  that's  why." 

I  spoke  with  a  little  heat,  thinking  of  the  bloody  dirk 
he  had  hidden  in  his  pocket,  and  designed,  in  his  ill 
thoughts,  to  end  me  with.  He,  for  his  part,  took  a 
great  draught  of  the  wine,  and  spoke  with  the  most 
unusual  solemnity. 

"For  thirty  years,"  he  said,  "I've  sailed  the  seas,  and 
seen  good  and  bad,  better  and  worse,  fair  weather  and 
foul,  provisions  running  out,  knives  going,  and  what 
not.  Well,  now  I  tell  you,  I  never  seen  good  come  o' 
goodness  yet.  Him  as  strikes  first  is  my  fancy ;  dead 
men  don't  bite;  them's  my  views  —  amen,  so  be  it. 
And  now,  you  look  here,"  he  added,  suddenly  chang- 
ing his  tone,  "we've  had  about  enough  of  this  foolery. 
The  tide's  made  good  enough  by  now.  You  just  take 
my  orders,  Cap'n  Hawkins,  and  we'll  sail  slap  in  and 
be  done  with  it." 

All  told,  we  had  scarce  two  miles  to  run ;  but  the  navi- 
gation was  delicate,  the  entrance  to  this  northern  anchor- 
age was  not  only  narrow  and  shoal,  but  lay  east  and 
west,  so  that  the  schooner  must  be  nicely  handled  to  be 
got  in.  I  think  I  was  a  good,  prompt  subaltern,  and  I 
am  very  sure  that  Hands  was  an  excellent  pilot ;  for  we 
went  about  and  about,  and  dodged  in,  shaving  the 
banks,  with  a  certainty  and  a  neatness  that  were  a  pleas- 
ure to  behold. 

Scarcely  had  we  passed  the  heads  before  the  land 
closed  around  us.  The  shores  of  North  Inlet  were  as 
thickly  wooded  as  those  of  the  southern  anchorage ;  but 

193 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

the  space  was  longer  and  narrower,  and  more  like,  what 
in  truth  it  was,  the  estuary  of  a  river.  Right  before  us, 
at  the  southern  end,  we  saw  the  wreck  of  a  ship  in 
the  last  stages  of  dilapidation.  It  had  been  a  great  ves- 
sel of  three  masts,  but  had  lain  so  long  exposed  to  the 
injuries  of  the  weather,  that  it  was  hung  about  with 
great  webs  of  dripping  seaweed,  and  on  the  deck  of  it 
shore  bushes  had  taken  root,  and  now  flourished  thick 
with  flowers.  It  was  a  sad  sight,  but  it  showed  us  that 
the  anchorage  was  calm. 

"Now,"  said  Hands,  "look  there;  there's  a  pet  bit 
for  to  beach  a  ship  in.  Fine  flat  sand,  never  a  catspaw, 
trees  all  around  of  it,  and  flowers  a-blowing  like  a  gar- 
ding  on  that  old  ship." 

"And  once  beached,"  I  inquired,  "how  shall  we  get 
her  off  again  ?  " 

"  Why,  so, "  he  replied :  "you  take  a  line  ashore  there 
on  the  other  side  at  low  water :  take  a  turn  about  one  o' 
them  big  pines;  bring  it  back,  take  a  turn  round  the 
capstan,  and  lie-to  for  the  tide.  Come  high  water,  all 
hands  take  a  pull  upon  the  line,  and  off  she  comes  as 
sweet  as  natur'.  And  now,  boy,  you  stand  by.  We're 
near  the  bit  now,  and  she's  too  much  way  on  her. 
Starboard  a  little  —  so  —  steady —  starboard  —  larboard  a 
little  —  steady  —  steady ! " 

So  he  issued  his  commands,  which  I  breathlessly 
obeyed ;  till,  all  of  a  sudden,  he  cried,  "Now,  my  hearty, 
luff!  "  And  I  put  the  helm  hard  up,  and  the  Hi§paniola 
swung  round  rapidly,  and  ran  stem  on  for  the  low 
wooded  shore. 

The  excitement  of  these  last  manoeuvres  had  some- 
what interfered  with  the  watch  I  had  kept  hitherto, 

194 


ISRAEL   HANDS 

sharply  enough,  upon  the  coxswain.  Even  then  I  was 
still  so  much  interested,  waiting  for  the  ship  to  touch, 
that  I  had  quite  forgot  the  peril  that  hung  over  my  head, 
and  stood  craning  over  the  starboard  bulwarks  and 
watching  the  ripples  spreading  wide  before  the  bows. 
I  might  have  fallen  without  a  struggle  for  my  life,  had 
not  a  sudden  disquietude  seized  upon  me,  and  made  me 
turn  my  head.  Perhaps  I  had  heard  a  creak,  or  seen  his 
shadow  moving  with  the  tail  of  my  eye ;  perhaps  it  was 
an  instinct  like  a  cat's ;  but,  sure  enough,  when  I  looked 
round,  there  was  Hands,  already  half-way  towards  me, 
with  the  dirk  in  his  right  hand. 

We  must  both  have  cried  out  aloud  when  our  eyes 
met;  but  while  mine  was  the  shrill  cry  of  terror,  his  was 
a  roar  of  fury  like  a  charging  bull's.  At  the  same  in- 
stant he  threw  himself  forward,  and  I  leaped  sideways 
towards  the  bows.  As  I  did  so,  I  let  go  of  the  tiller, 
which  sprang  sharp  to  leeward ;  and  I  think  this  saved 
my  life,  for  it  struck  Hands  across  the  chest,  and  stopped 
him,  for  the  moment,  dead. 

Before  he  could  recover,  I  was  safe  out  of  the  corner 
where  he  had  me  trapped,  with  all  the  deck  to  dodge 
about.  Just  forward  of  the  mainmast  I  stopped,  drew 
a  pistol  from  my  pocket,  took  a  cool  aim,  though  he 
had  already  turned  and  was  once  more  coming  directly 
after  me,  and  drew  the  trigger.  The  hammer  fell,  but 
there  followed  neither  flash  nor  sound ;  the  priming  was 
useless  with  sea  water.  I  cursed  myself  for  my  neglect. 
Why  had  not  I,  long  before,  reprimed  and  reloaded  my 
only  weapons  ?  Then  I  should  not  have  been  as  now, 
a  mere  fleeing  sheep  before  this  butcher. 

Wounded  as  he  was,  it  was  wonderful  how  fast  he 
195 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

could  move,  his  grizzled  hair  tumbling  over  his  face,  and 
his  face  itself  as  red  as  a  red  ensign  with  his  haste  and 
fury.  I  had  no  time  to  try  my  other  pistol,  nor,  indeed, 
much  inclination,  for  I  was  sure  it  would  be  useless. 
One  thing  I  saw  plainly :  I  must  not  simply  retreat  be- 
fore him,  or  he  wouM  speedily  hold  me  boxed  into  the 
bows,  as  a  moment  since  he  had  so  nearly  boxed  me  in 
the  stern.  Once  so  caught,  and  nine  or  ten  inches  of 
the  blood-stained  dirk  would  be  my  last  experience  on 
this  side  of  eternity.  I  placed  my  palms  against  the 
mainmast,  which  was  of  a  goodish  bigness,  and  waited, 
every  nerve  upon  the  stretch. 

Seeing  that  I  meant  to  dodge,  he  also  paused ;  and  a 
moment  or  two  passed  in  feints  on  his  part,  and  corre- 
sponding movements  upon  mine.  It  was  such  a  game 
as  I  had  often  played  at  home  about  the  rocks  of  Black 
Hill  Cove;  but  never  before,  you  may  be  sure,  with 
such  a  wildly  beating  heart  as  now.  Still,  as  I  say,  it 
was  a  boy's  game,  and  I  thought  I  could  hold  my  own 
at  it,  against  an  elderly  seaman  with  a  wounded  thigh. 
Indeed,  my  courage  had  begun  to  rise  so  high,  that  I 
allowed  myself  a  few  darting  thoughts  on  what  would 
be  the  end  of  the  affair;  and  while  I  saw  certainly  that  I 
could  spin  it  out  for  long,  I  saw  no  hope  of  any  ulti- 
mate escape. 

Well,  while  things  stood  thus,  suddenly  the  His- 
paniola  struck,  staggered,  ground  for  an  instant  in  the 
sand,  and  then,  swift  as  a  blow,  canted  over  to  the  port 
side,  till  the  deck  stood  at  an  angle  of  forty-five  degrees, 
and  about  a  puncheon  of  water  splashed  into  the  scupper 
holes,  and  lay,  in  a  pool,  between  the  deck  and  bulwark. 

We  were  both  of  us  capsized  in  a  second,  and  both 
196 


ISRAEL  HANDS 

of  us  rolled,  almost  together,  into  the  scuppers;  the 
dead  red-cap,  with  his  arms  still  spread  out,  tumbling 
stiffly  after  us.  So  near  were  we,  indeed,  that  my  head 
came  against  the  coxswain's  foot  with  a  crack  that  made 
my  teeth  rattle.  Blow  and  all,  I  was  the  first  afoot  again ; 
for  Hands  had  got  involved  with  the  dead  body.  The 
sudden  canting  of  the  ship  had  made  the  deck  no  place 
for  running  on ;  I  had  to  find  some  new  way  of  escape, 
and  that  upon  the  instant,  for  my  foe  was  almost  touch- 
ing me.  Quick  as  thought,  I  sprang  into  the  mizzen 
shrouds,  rattled  up  hand  over  hand,  and  did  not  draw 
a  breath  till  I  was  seated  on  the  cross-trees. 

I  had  been  saved  by  being  prompt;  the  dirk  had 
struck  not  half  a  foot  below  me,  as  I  pursued  my  up- 
ward flight ;  and  there  stood  Israel  Hands  with  his  mouth 
open  and  his  face  upturned  to  mine,  a  perfect  statue  of 
surprise  and  disappointment. 

Now  that  I  had  a  moment  to  myself,  I  lost  no  time  in 
changing  the  priming  of  my  pistol,  and  then,  having 
one  ready  for  service,  and  to  make  assurance  doubly 
sure,  I  proceeded  to  draw  the  load  of  the  other,  and  re- 
charge it  afresh  from  the  beginning. 

My  new  employment  struck  Hands  all  of  a  heap ;  he 
began  to  see  the  dice  going  against  him ;  and  after  an 
obvious  hesitation,  he  also  hauled  himself  heavily  into 
the  shrouds,  and,  with  the  dirk  in  his  teeth,  began  slowly 
and  painfully  to  mount.  It  cost  him  no  end  of  time  and 
groans  to  haul  his  wounded  leg  behind  him ;  and  I  had 
quietly  finished  my  anangements  before  he  was  much 
more  than  a  third  of  the  way  up.  Then,  with  a  pistol 
in  either  hand,  I  addressed  him. 

"One  more  step,  Mr.  Hands,"  said  I,  "and  I'll  blow 
197 


TREASURE   ISLAND 

your  brains  out!  Dead  men  don't  bite,  you  know,"  I 
added,  with  a  chuckle. 

He  stopped  instantly.  I  could  see  by  the  working  of 
his  face  that  he  was  trying  to  think,  and  the  process  was 
so  slow  and  laborious  that,  in  my  new-found  security, 
I  laughed  aloud.  At  last,  with  a  swallow  or  two,  he 
spoke,  his  face  still  wearing  the  same  expression  of  ex- 
treme perplexity.  In  order  to  speak  he  had  to  take  the 
dagger  from  his  mouth,  but,  in  all  else,  he  remained  un- 
moved. 

"Jim,"  says  he,  "I reckon  we're  fouled,  you  and  me, 
and  we'll  have  to  sign  articles.  I'd  have  had  you  but  for 
that  there  lurch :  but  I  don't  have  no  luck,  not  I ;  and 
I  reckon  I'll  have  to  strike,  which  comes  hard,  you  see, 
for  a  master  mariner  to  a  ship's  younker  like  you,  Jim." 

I  was  drinking  in  his  words  and  smiling  away,  as  con- 
ceited as  a  cock  upon  a  wall,  when,  all  in  a  breath,  back 
went  his  right  hand  over  his  shoulder.  Something  sang 
like  an  arrow  through  the  air;  I  felt  a  blow  and  then  a 
sharp  pang,  and  there  I  was  pinned  by  the  shoulder  to 
the  mast.  In  the  horrid  pain  and  surprise  of  the  moment 
—  I  scarce  can  say  it  was  by  my  own  volition,  and  I  am 
sure  it  was  without  a  conscious  aim  —  both  my  pistols 
went  off,  and  both  escaped  out  of  my  hands.  They 
did  not  fall  alone;  with  a  choked  cry,  the  coxswain 
loosed  his  grasp  upon  the  shrouds,  and  plunged  head 
first  into  the  water. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

"PIECES   OF   EIGHT" 

Owing  to  the  cant  of  the  vessel,  the  masts  hung  far 
out  over  the  water,  and  from  my  perch  on  the  cross- 
trees  I  had  nothing  below  me  but  the  surface  of  the 
bay.  Hands,  who  was  not  so  far  up,  was,  in  conse- 
quence, nearer  to  the  ship,  and  fell  between  me  and  the 
bulwarks.  He  rose  once  to  the  surface  in  a  lather  of 
foam  and  blood,  and  then  sank  again  for  good.  As  the 
water  settled,  I  could  see  him  lying  huddled  together  on 
the  clean,  bright  sand  in  the  shadow  of  the  vessel's 
sides.  A  fish  or  two  whipped  past  his  body.  Some- 
times, by  the  quivering  of  the  water,  he  appeared  to 
move  a  little,  as  if  he  were  trying  to  rise.  But  he  was 
dead  enough,  for  all  that,  being  both  shot  and  drowned, 
and  was  food  for  fish  in  the  very  place  where  he  had 
designed  my  slaughter. 

I  was  no  sooner  certain  of  this  than  I  began  to  feel 
sick,  faint,  and  terrified.  The  hot  blood  was  running 
over  my  back  and  chest.  The  dirk,  where  it  had  pinned 
my  shoulder  to  the  mast,  seemed  to  burn  like  a  hot  iron ; 
yet  it  was  not  so  much  these  real  sufferings  that  dis- 
tressed me,  for  these,  it  seemed  to  me,  I  could  bear 
without  a  murmur;  it  was  the  horror  I  had  upon  my 
mind  of  falling  from  the  cross-trees  into  that  still  green 
water  beside  the  body  of  the  coxswain. 

199 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

I  clung  with  both  hands  till  my  nails  ached,  and  I 
shut  my  eyes  as  if  to  cover  up  the  peril.  Gradually  my 
mind  came  back  again,  my  pulses  quieted  down  to  a 
more  natural  time,  and  I  was  once  more  in  possession  of 
myself. 

It  was  my  first  thought  to  pluck  forth  the  dirk ;  but 
either  it  stuck  too  hard  or  my  nerve  failed  me ;  and  I  de- 
sisted with  a  violent  shudder.  Oddly  enough,  that  very 
shudder  did  the  business.  The  knife,  in  fact,  had  come 
the  nearest  in  the  world  to  missing  me  altogether;  it 
held  me  by  a  mere  pinch  of  skin,  and  this  the  shudder 
tore  away.  The  blood  ran  down  the  faster,  to  be  sure ; 
but  I  was  my  own  master  again,  and  only  tacked  to  the 
mast  by  my  coat  and  shirt. 

These  last  I  broke  through  with  a  sudden  jerk,  and 
then  regained  the  deck  by  the  starboard  shrouds.  For 
nothing  in  the  world  would  I  have  again  ventured, 
shaken  as  I  was,  upon  the  overhanging  port  shrouds, 
from  which  Israel  had  so  lately  fallen. 

I  went  below,  and  did  what  I  could  for  my  wound; 
it  pained  me  a  good  deal,  and  still  bled  freely;  but  it 
was  neither  deep  nor  dangerous,  nor  did  it  greatly  gall 
me  when  I  used  my  arm.  Then  I  looked  around  me, 
and  as  the  ship  was  now,  in  a  sense,  my  own,  I  began 
to  think  of  clearing  it  from  its  last  passenger — the  dead 
man,  O'Brien. 

He  had  pitched,  as  I  have  said,  against  the  bulwarks, 
where  he  lay  like  some  horrible,  ungainly  sort  of  puppet; 
life-size,  indeed,  but  how  different  from  life's  colour  or 
life's  comeliness !  In  that  position,  I  could  easily  have 
my  way  with  him ;  and  as  the  habit  of  tragical  adven- 
tures had  worn  off  almost  all  my  terror  for  the  dead,  I 


"PIECES  OF  EIGHT" 

took  him  by  the  waist  as  if  he  had  been  a  sack  of  bran, 
and,  with  one  good  heave,  tumbled  him  overboard.  He 
went  in  with  a  sounding  plunge ;  the  red  cap  came  off, 
and  remained  floating  on  the  surface;  and  as  soon  as  the 
splash  subsided,  I  could  see  him  and  Israel  lying  side  by 
side,  both  wavering  with  the  tremulous  movement  of  the 
water.  O'Brien,  though  still  quite  a  young  man,  was 
very  bald.  There  he  lay,  with  that  bald  head  across  the 
knees  of  the  man  who  had  killed  him,  and  the  quick 
fishes  steering  to  and  fro  over  both. 

I  was  now  alone  upon  the  ship;  the  tide  had  just 
turned.  The  sun  was  within  so  few  degrees  of  setting 
that  already  the  shadow  of  the  pines  upon  the  western 
shore  began  to  reach  right  across  the  anchorage,  and  fall 
in  patterns  on  the  deck.  The  evening  breeze  had  sprung 
up,  and  though  it  was  well  warded  off  by  the  hill  with 
the  two  peaks  upon  the  east,  the  cordage  had  begun  to 
sing  a  little  softly  to  itself  and  the  idle  sails  to  rattle  to 
and  fro. 

I  began  to  see  a  danger  to  the  ship.  The  jibs  I  speed- 
ily doused  and  brought  tumbling  to  the  deck;  but  the 
main-sail  was  a  harder  matter.  Of  course,  when  the 
schooner  canted  over,  the  boom  had  swung  out-board, 
and  the  cap  of  it  and  a  foot  or  two  of  sail  hung  even 
under  water.  I  thought  this  made  it  still  more  danger- 
ous ;  yet  the  strain  was  so  heavy  that  I  half  feared  to 
meddle.  At  last,  I  got  my  knife  and  cut  the  halyards. 
The  peak  dropped  instantly,  a  great  belly  of  loose  can- 
vas floated  broad  upon  the  water;  and  since,  pull  as  I 
liked,  I  could  not  budge  the  downhall,  that  was  the  ex- 
tent of  what  I  could  accomplish.  For  the  rest,  the  His- 
paniola  must  trust  to  luck,  like  myself. 

20 1 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

By  this  time  the  whole  anchorage  had  fallen  into  shad- 
ow—  the  last  rays,  I  remember,  falling  through  a  glade 
of  the  wood,  and  shining  bright  as  jewels,  on  the  flowery 
mantle  of  the  wreck.  It  began  to  be  chill ;  the  tide  was 
rapidly  fleeting  seaward,  the  schooner  settling  more  and 
more  on  her  beam-ends. 

I  scrambled  forward  and  looked  over.  It  seemed 
shallow  enough,  and  holding  the  cut  hawser  in  both 
hands  for  a  last  security,  I  let  myself  drop  softly  over- 
board. The  water  scarcely  reached  my  waist ;  the  sand 
was  firm  and  covered  with  ripple  marks,  and  I  waded 
ashore  in  great  spirits,  leaving  the  HiSfianiola  on  her 
side,  with  her  main-sail  trailing  wide  upon  the  surface 
of  the  bay.  About  the  same  time  the  sun  went  fairly 
down,  and  the  breeze  whistled  low  in  the  dusk  among 
the  tossing  pines. 

At  least,  and  at  last,  I  was  off  the  sea,  nor  had  I  re- 
turned thence  empty  handed.  There  lay  the  schooner, 
clear  at  last  from  buccaneers  and  ready  for  our  own  men 
to  board  and  get  to  sea  again.  I  had  nothing  nearer  my 
fancy  than  to  get  home  to  the  stockade  and  boast  of  my 
achievements.  Possibly  I  might  be  blamed  a  bit  for  my 
truantry,  but  the  recapture  of  the  Hi§paniola  was  a  clench- 
ing answer,  and  I  hoped  that  even  Captain  Smollett 
would  confess  I  had  not  lost  my  time. 

So  thinking,  and  in  famous  spirits,  I  began  to  set  my 
face  homeward  for  the  block-house  and  my  companions. 
I  remembered  that  the  most  easterly  of  the  rivers  which 
drain  into  Captain  Kidd's  anchorage  ran  from  the  two- 
peaked  hill  upon  my  left;  and  I  bent  my  course  in  that 
direction  that  I  might  pass  the  stream  while  it  was  small. 
The  wood  was  pretty  open,  and  keeping  along  the  lower 


"PIECES  OF  EIGHT" 

spurs,  I  had  soon  turned  the  corner  of  that  hill,  and  not 
long  after  waded  to  the  mid-calf  across  the  water-course. 

This  brought  me  near  to  where  I  had  encountered  Ben 
Gunn,  the  maroon ;  and  I  walked  more  circumspectly, 
keeping  an  eye  on  every  side.  The  dusk  had  come  nigh 
hand  completely,  and,  as  I  opened  out  the  cleft  between 
the  two  peaks,  I  became  aware  of  a  wavering  glow 
against  the  sky,  where,  as  I  judged,  the  man  of  the  island 
was  cooking  his  supper  before  a  roaring  fire.  And  yet 
I  wondered,  in  my  heart,  that  he  should  show  himself 
so  careless.  For  if  I  could  see  this  radiance,  might  it  not 
reach  the  eyes  of  Silver  himself  where  he  camped  upon 
the  shore  among  the  marshes  ? 

Gradually  the  night  fell  blacker;  it  was  all  I  could  do 
to  guide  myself  even  roughly  towards  my  destination ; 
the  double  hill  behind  me  and  the  Spy-glass  on  my  right 
hand  loomed  faint  and  fainter;  the  stars  were  few  and 
pale;  and  in  the  low  ground  where  I  wandered  I  kept 
tripping  among  bushes  and  rolling  into  sandy  pits. 

Suddenly  a  kind  of  brightness  fell  about  me.  I  looked 
up;  a  pale  glimmer  of  moonbeams  had  alighted  on  the 
summit  of  the  Spy-glass,  and  soon  after  I  saw  something 
broad  and  silvery  moving  low  down  behind  the  trees, 
and  knew  the  moon  had  risen. 

With  this  to  help  me,  I  passed  rapidly  over  what  re- 
mained to  me  of  my  journey ;  and,  sometimes  walking, 
sometimes  running,  impatiently  drew  near  to  the  stock- 
ade. Yet,  as  I  began  to  thread  the  grove  that  lies  be- 
fore it,  I  was  not  so  thoughtless  but  that  I  slacked  my 
pace  and  went  a  trifle  warily.  It  would  have  been  a 
poor  end  of  my  adventures  to  get  shot  down  by  my  own 
party  in  mistake. 

203 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

The  moon  was  climbing  higher  and  higher;  its  light 
began  to  fall  here  and  there  in  masses  through  the  more 
open  districts  of  the  wood ;  and  right  in  front  of  me  a 
glow  of  a  different  colour  appeared  among  the  trees. 
It  was  red  and  hot,  and  now  and  again  it  was  a  little 
darkened  —  as  it  were  the  embers  of  a  bonfire  smoul- 
dering. 

For  the  life  of  me,  I  could  not  think  what  it  might  be. 

At  last  I  came  right  down  upon  the  borders  of  the 
clearing.  The  western  end  was  already  steeped  in 
moonshine;  the  rest,  and  the  block-house  itself,  still  lay 
in  a  black  shadow,  chequered  with  long,  silvery  streaks 
of  light.  On  the  other  side  of  the  house  an  immense 
fire  had  burned  itself  into  clear  embers  and  shed  a  steady, 
red  reverberation,  contrasted  strongly  with  the  mellow 
paleness  of  the  moon.  There  was  not  a  soul  stirring, 
nor  a  sound  beside  the  noises  of  the  breeze. 

I  stopped,  with  much  wonder  in  my  heart,  and  per- 
haps a  little  terror  also.  It  had  not  been  our  way  to 
build  great  fires;  we  were,  indeed,  by  the  captain's  or- 
ders, somewhat  niggardly  of  firewood;  and  I  began  to 
fear  that  something  had  gone  wrong  while  I  was  ab- 
sent. 

I  stole  round  by  the  eastern  end,  keeping  close  in 
shadow,  and  at  a  convenient  place,  where  the  darkness 
was  thickest,  crossed  the  palisade. 

To  make  assurance  surer,  I  got  upon  my  hands  and 
knees,  and  crawled,  without  a  sound,  towards  the  corner 
of  the  house.  As  I  drew  nearer,  my  heart  was  suddenly 
and  greatly  lightened.  It  is  not  a  pleasant  noise  in  it- 
self, and  I  have  often  complained  of  it  at  other  times; 
but  just  then  it  was  like  music  to  hear  my  friends  snor- 

204 


"PIECES  OF  EIGHT" 

ing  together  so  loud  and  peaceful  in  their  sleep.  The 
sea  cry  of  the  watch,  that  beautiful  "All's  well,"  never 
fell  more  reassuringly  on  my  ear. 

In  the  meantime,  there  was  no  doubt  of  one  thing; 
they  kept  an  infamous  bad  watch.  If  it  had  been  Silver 
and  his  lads  that  were  now  creeping  in  on  them,  not  a 
soul  would  have  seen  daybreak.  That  was  what  it  was, 
thought  I,  to  have  the  captain  wounded;  and  again  I 
blamed  myself  sharply  for  leaving  them  in  that  danger 
with  so  few  to  mount  guard. 

By  this  time  I  had  got  to  the  door  and  stood  up.  All 
was  dark  within,  so  that  I  could  distinguish  nothing  by 
the  eye.  As  for  sounds,  there  was  the  steady  drone  of 
the  snorers,  and  a  small  occasional  noise,  a  flickering  or 
pecking  that  I  could  in  no  way  account  for. 

With  my  arms  before  me  I  walked  steadily  in.  I  should 
lie  down  in  my  own  place  (I  thought,  with  a  silent 
chuckle)  and  enjoy  their  faces  when  they  found  me  in 
the  morning. 

My  foot  struck  something  yielding  —  it  was  a  sleeper's 
leg;  and  he  turned  and  groaned,  but  without  awaken- 
ing. 

And  then,  all  of  a  sudden,  a  shrill  voice  broke  forth 
out  of  the  darkness : 

"Pieces  of  eight!  pieces  of  eight!  pieces  of  eight! 
pieces  of  eight !  pieces  of  eight!  "  and  so  forth,  without 
pause  or  change,  like  the  clacking  of  a  tiny  mill. 

Silver's  green  parrot,  Captain  Flint !  It  was  she  whom 
I  had  heard  pecking  at  a  piece  of  bark ;  it  was  she,  keep- 
ing better  watch  than  any  human  being,  who  thus  an- 
nounced my  arrival  with  her  wearisome  refrain. 

I  had  no  time  left  me  to  recover.  At  the  sharp,  clip- 
205 


TREASURE   ISLAND 

ping  tone  of  the  parrot,  the  sleepers  awoke  and  sprang 
up ;  and  with  a  mighty  oath,  the  voice  of  Silver  cried : 

"Who  goes?" 

I  turned  to  run,  struck  violently  against  one  person, 
recoiled,  and  ran  full  into  the  arms  of  a  second,  who,  for 
his  part,  closed  upon  and  held  me  tight. 

"  Bring  a  torch,  Dick,"  said  Silver,  when  my  capture 
was  thus  assured. 

And  one  of  the  men  left  the  log-house,  and  presently 
returned  with  a  lighted  brand. 


200 


PART  VI 

CAPTAIN  SILVER 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

IN   THE   ENEMY'S  CAMP 

THE  red  glare  of  the  torch,  lighting  up  the  interior 
of  the  block-house,  showed  me  the  worst  of  my 
apprehensions  realised.  The  pirates  were  in  possession 
of  the  house  and  stores :  there  was  the  cask  of  cognac, 
there  were  the  pork  and  bread,  as  before;  and,  what 
tenfold  increased  my  horror,  not  a  sign  of  any  prisoner. 
I  could  only  judge  that  all  had  perished,  and  my  heart 
smote  me  sorely  that  I  had  not  been  there  to  perish  with 
them. 

There  were  six  of  the  buccaneers,  all  told;  not  an- 
other man  was  left  alive.  Five  of  them  were  on  their 
feet,  flushed  and  swollen,  suddenly  called  out  of  the  first 
sleep  of  drunkenness.  The  sixth  had  only  risen  upon 
his  elbow;  he  was  deadly  pale,  and  the  blood-stained 
bandage  round  his  head  told  that  he  had  recently  been 
wounded,  and  still  more  recently  dressed.  I  remembered 
the  man  who  had  been  shot  and  had  run  back  among 
the  woods  in  the  great  attack,  and  doubted  not  that  this 
was  he. 

The  parrot  sat,  preening  her  plumage,  on  Long  John's 
shoulder.  He  himself,  I  thought,  looked  somewhat  paler 
and  more  stern  than  I  was  used  to.  He  still  wore  the 
fine  broadcloth  suit  in  which  he  had  fulfilled  his  mission, 

20Q 


TREASURE   ISLAND 

but  it  was  bitterly  the  worse  for  wear,  daubed  with  clay 
and  torn  with  the  sharp  briers  of  the  wood. 

"  So,"  said  he,  "  here's  Jim  Hawkins,  shiver  my  tim- 
bers! dropped  in,  like,  eh?  Well,  come,  I  take  that 
friendly." 

And  thereupon  he  sat  down  across  the  brandy  cask, 
and  began  to  fill  a  pipe. 

"  Give  me  a  loan  of  the  link,  Dick, "  said  he ;  and  then, 
when  he  had  a  good  light,  "That'll  do,  lad,"  he  added; 
"stick  the  glim  in  the  wood  heap ;  and  you,  gentlemen, 
bring  yourselves  to! — you  needn't  stand  up  for  Mr. 
Hawkins;  he'll  excuse  you,  you  may  lay  to  that.  And 
so,  Jim  " —  stopping  the  tobacco  —  "  here  you  were,  and 
quite  a  pleasant  surprise  for  poor  old  John.  I  see  you 
were  smart  when  first  I  set  my  eyes  on  you ;  but  this 
here  gets  away  from  me  clean,  it  do." 

To  all  this,  as  may  be  well  supposed,  I  made  no  an- 
swer. They  had  set  me  with  my  back  against  the  wall ; 
and  I  stood  there,  looking  Silver  in  the  face,  pluckily 
enough,  I  hope,  to  all  outward  appearance,  but  with 
black  despair  in  my  heart. 

Silver  took  a  whiff  or  two  of  his  pipe  with  great  com- 
posure, and  then  ran  on  again. 

"Now,  you  see,  Jim,  so  be  as  you  are  here,"  says  he, 
"I'll  give  you  a  piece  of  my  mind.  I've  always  liked 
you,  I  have,  for  a  lad  of  spirit,  and  the  picter  of  my  own 
self  when  I  was  young  and  handsome.  I  always  wanted 
you  to  jine  and  take  your  share,  and  die  a  gentleman, 
and  now,  my  cock,  you've  got  to.  Cap'n  Smollett's  a 
fine  seaman,  as  I'll  own  up  to  any  day,  but  stiff  on  dis- 
cipline. 'Dooty  is  dooty,'  says  he,  and  right  he  is. 
Just  you  keep  clear  of  the  cap'n.     The  doctor  himself  is 


IN  THE  ENEMY'S  CAMP 

gone  dead  again  you —  '  ungrateful  scamp '  was  what  he 
said ;  and  the  short  and  the  long  of  the  whole  story  is 
about  here :  you  can't  go  back  to  your  own  lot,  for  they 
won't  have  you ;  and,  without  you  start  a  third  ship's 
company  all  by  yourself,  which  might  be  lonely,  you'll 
have  to  jine  with  Cap'n  Silver." 

So  far  so  good.  My  friends,  then,  were  still  alive, 
and  though  I  partly  believed  the  truth  of  Silver's  state- 
ment, that  the  cabin  party  were  incensed  at  me  for  my 
desertion,  I  was  more  relieved  than  distressed  by  what 
I  heard. 

"  I  don't  say  nothing  as  to  your  being  in  our  hands," 
continued  Silver,  "though  there  you  are,  and  you  may 
lay  to  it.  I'm  all  for  argyment;  I  never  seen  good  come 
out  o'  threatening.  If  you  like  the  service,  well,  you'll 
jine;  and  if  you  don't,  Jim,  why,  you're  free  to  answer 
no — free  and  welcome,  shipmate;  and  if  fairer  can  be 
said  by  mortal  seaman,  shiver  my  sides ! " 

"Am  I  to  answer  then  ?"  I  asked,  with  a  very  trem- 
ulous voice.  Through  all  this  sneering  talk,  I  was  made 
to  feel  the  threat  of  death  that  overhung  me,  and  my 
cheeks  burned  and  my  heart  beat  painfully  in  my  breast. 

"Lad,"  said  Silver,  "no  one's  a-pressing  of  you. 
Take  your  bearings.  None  of  us  won't  hurry  you, 
mate;  time  goes  so  pleasant  in  your  company,  you  see." 

"Well,"  says  I,  growing  a  bit  bolder,  "if  I'm  to 
choose,  I  declare  I  have  a  right  to  know  what's  what, 
and  why  you're  here,  and  where  my  friends  are." 

"Wot's  wot?"  repeated  one  of  the  buccaneers,  in  a 
deep  growl.  "Ah,  he'd  be  a  lucky  one  as  knowed 
that!" 

"  You'll,  perhaps,  batten  down  your  hatches  till  you're 

211 


TREASURE   ISLAND 

spoke  to,  my  friend,"  cried  Silver  truculently  to  this 
speaker.  And  then,  in  his  first  gracious  tones,  he  re- 
plied to  me:  "  Yesterday  morning,  Mr.  Hawkins,"  said 
he,  "in  the  dog-watch,  down  came  Dr.  Livesey  with  a 
flag  of  truce.  Says  he,  '  Cap'n  Silver,  you're  sold  out. 
Ship's  gone.'  Well,  maybe  we'd  been  taking  a  glass, 
and  a  song  to  help  it  round.  I  won't  say  no.  Least- 
ways, none  of  us  had  looked  out.  We  looked  out,  and 
by  thunder!  the  old  ship  was  gone.  I  never  seen  a  pack 
o'  fools  look  fishier;  and  you  may  lay  to  that,  if  I  tells 
you  that  looked  the  fishiest.  '  Well, '  says  the  doctor, 
'  let's  bargain.'  We  bargained,  him  and  I,  and  here  we 
are :  stores,  brandy,  block-house,  the  firewood  you  was 
thoughtful  enough  to  cut,  and,  in  a  manner  of  speaking, 
the  whole  blessed  boat,  from  cross-trees  to  keelson.  As 
for  them,  they've  tramped;  I  don't  know  where's  they 
are." 

He  drew  again  quietly  at  his  pipe. 

"And  lest  you  should  take  it  into  that  head  of  yours," 
he  went  on,  "that  you  was  included  in  the  treaty,  here's 
the  last  word  that  was  said :  '  How  many  are  you,'  says 
I,  'to  leave?'  'Four,'  says  he — 'four,  and  one  of  us 
wounded.  As  for  that  boy,  I  don't  know  where  he  is, 
confound  him,'  says  he,  '  nor  I  don't  much  care.  We're 
about  sick  of  him.'    These  was  his  words." 

"Is  that  all?"  I  asked. 

"Well,  it's  all  that  you're  to  hear,  my  son,"  returned 
Silver. 

"And  now  I  am  to  choose  ?" 

"And  now  you  are  to  choose,  and  you  may  lay  to 
that,"  said  Silver. 

"Well,"  said  I,  "I  am  not  such  a  fool  but  I  know 


IN   THE   ENEMY'S   CAMP 

pretty  well  what  I  have  to  look  for.  Let  the  worst  come 
to  the  worst,  it's  little  I  care.  I've  seen  too  many  die 
since  I  fell  in  with  you.  But  there's  a  thing  or  two  I 
have  to  tell  you,"  I  said,  and  by  this  time  I  was  quite 
excited;  "and  the  first  is  this:  here  you  are,  in  a  bad 
way:  ship  lost,  treasure  lost,  men  lost;  your  whole 
business  gone  to  wreck;  and  if  you  want  to  know  who 
did  it — it  was  I!  I  was  in  the  apple  barrel  the  night 
we  sighted  land,  and  I  heard  you,  John,  and  you,  Dick 
Johnson,  and  Hands,  who  is  now  at  the  bottom  of  the 
sea,  and  told  every  word  you  said  before  the  hour  was 
out.  And  as  for  the  schooner,  it  was  I  who  cut  her 
cable,  and  it  was  I  that  killed  the  men  you  had  aboard 
of  her,  and  it  was  I  who  brought  her  where  you'll  never 
see  her  more,  not  one  of  you.  The  laugh's  on  my  side; 
I've  had  the  top  of  this  business  from  the  first;  I  no  more 
fear  you  than  I  fear  a  fly.  Kill  me,  if  you  please,  or  spare 
me.  But  one  thing  I'll  say,  and  no  more;  if  you  spare 
me,  bygones  are  bygones,  and  when  you  fellows  are  in 
court  for  piracy,  I'll  save  you  all  I  can.  It  is  for  you  to 
choose.  Kill  another  and  do  yourselves  no  good,  or 
spare  me  and  keep  a  witness  to  save  you  from  the 
gallows." 

I  stopped,  for,  I  tell  you,  I  was  out  of  breath,  and,  to 
my  wonder,  not  a  man  of  them  moved,  but  all  sat  star- 
ing at  me  like  as  many  sheep.  And  while  they  were  still 
staring,  I  broke  out  again : 

"And  now,  Mr.  Silver,"  I  said,  "I  believe  you're  the 
best  man  here,  and  if  things  go  to  the  worst,  I'll  take  it 
kind  of  you  to  let  the  doctor  know  the  way  I  took  it." 

"I'll  bear  it  in  mind,"  said  Silver,  with  an  accent  so 
curious  that  I  could  not,  for  the  life  of  me,  decide  whether 

213 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

he  were  laughing  at  my  request,  or  had  been  favourably 
affected  by  my  courage. 

"I'll  put  one  to  that,"  cried  the  old  mahogany-faced 
seaman  —  Morgan  by  name  —  whom  I  had  seen  in  Long 
John's  public-house  upon  the  quays  of  Bristol.  "  It  was 
him  that  knowed  Black  Dog." 

"Well,  and  see  here,"  added  the  sea-cook.  "  I'll  put 
another  again  to  that,  by  thunder!  for  it  was  this  same 
boy  that  faked  the  chart  from  Billy  Bones.  First  and 
last,  we've  split  upon  Jim  Hawkins! " 

"Then  here  goes!"  said  Morgan,  with  an  oath. 

And  he  sprang  up,  drawing  his  knife  as  if  he  had  been 
twenty. 

"Avast,  there!"  cried  Silver.  "Who  are  you,  Tom 
Morgan  ?  Maybe  you  thought  you  was  cap'n  here,  per- 
haps. By  the  powers,  but  I'll  teach  you  better!  Cross 
me,  and  you'll  go  where  many  a  good  man's  gone  be- 
fore you,  first  and  last,  these  thirty  year  back — some  to 
the  yard-arm,  shiver  my  timbers !  and  some  by  the  board, 
and  all  to  feed  the  fishes.  There's  never  a  man  looked 
me  between  the  eyes  and  seen  a  good  day  a'terwards, 
Tom  Morgan,  you  may  lay  to  that." 

Morgan  paused ;  but  a  hoarse  murmur  rose  from  the 
others. 

"Tom's  right,"  said  one. 

"I  stood  hazing  long  enough  from  one,"  added  an- 
other. "  I'll  be  hanged  if  I'll  be  hazed  by  you,  John 
Silver." 

"  Did  any  of  you  gentlemen  want  to  have  it  out  with 
me  ?  "  roared  Silver,  bending  far  forward  from  his  posi- 
tion on  the  keg,  with  his  pipe  still  glowing  in  his  right 
hand.     ' '  Put  a  name  on  what  you're  at ;  you  ain't  dumb, 

214 


IN  THE  ENEMY'S  CAMP 

I  reckon.  Him  that  wants  shall  get  it.  Have  I  lived  this 
many  years,  and  a  son  of  a  rum  puncheon  cock  his  hat 
athwart  my  hawse  at  the  latter  end  of  it  ?  You  know 
the  way ;  you're  all  gentlemen  o'  fortune,  by  your  ac- 
count. Well,  I'm  ready.  Take  a  cutlass,  him  that  dares, 
and  I'll  see  the  colour  of  his  inside,  crutch  and  all,  before 
that  pipe's  empty." 

Not  a  man  stirred ;  not  a  man  answered. 

"That's  your  sort,  is  it?"  he  added,  returning  his 
pipe  to  his  mouth.  "Well,  you're  a  gay  lot  to  look  at, 
anyway.  Not  much  worth  to  fight,  you  ain't.  P'raps 
you  can  understand  King  George's  English.  I'm  cap'n 
here  by  'lection.  I'm  cap'n  here  because  I'm  the  best 
man  by  a  long  sea-mile.  You  won't  fight,  as  gentlemen 
o'  fortune  should;  then,  by  thunder,  you'll  obey,  and 
you  may  lay  to  it!  I  like  that  boy,  now;  I  never  seen  a 
better  boy  than  that.  He's  more  a  man  than  any  pair 
of  rats  of  you  in  this  here  house,  and  what  I  say  is  this: 
let  me  see  him  that'll  lay  a  hand  on  him  —  that's  what  I 
say,  and  you  may  lay  to  it." 

There  was  a  long  pause  after  this.  I  stood  straight 
up  against  the  wall,  my  heart  still  going  like  a  sledge- 
hammer, but  with  a  ray  of  hope  now  shining  in  my 
bosom.  Silver  leant  back  against  the  wall,  his  arms 
crossed,  his  pipe  in  the  corner  of  his  mouth,  as  calm  as 
though  he  had  been  in  church ;  yet  his  eye  kept  wander- 
ing furtively,  and  he  kept  the  tail  of  it  on  his  unruly  fol- 
lowers. They,  on  their  part,  drew  gradually  together 
towards  the  far  end  of  the  block-house,  and  the  low  hiss 
of  their  whispering  sounded  in  my  ear  continuously, 
like  a  stream.  One  after  another,  they  would  look  up, 
and  the  red  light  of  the  torch  would  fall  for  a  second  on 

215 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

their  nervous  faces ;  but  it  was  not  towards  me,  it  was 
towards  Silver  that  they  turned  their  eyes. 

"You  seem  to  have  a  lot  to  say,"  remarked  Silver, 
spitting  far  into  the  air.  "  Pipe  up  and  let  me  hear  it,  or 
lay  to." 

"Ax  your  pardon,  sir,"  returned  one  of  the  men, 
"  you're  pretty  free  with  some  of  the  rules;  maybe  you'll 
kindly  keep  an  eye  upon  the  rest.  This  crew's  dissatis- 
fied; this  crew  don't  vally  bullying  a  marlinspike;  this 
crew  has  its  rights  like  other  crews,  I'll  make  so  free  as 
that ;  and  by  your  own  rules,  I  take  it  we  can  talk  to- 
gether. I  ax  your  pardon,  sir,  acknowledging  you  for 
to  be  capting  at  this  present ;  but  I  claim  my  right,  and 
steps  outside  for  a  council." 

And  with  an  elaborate  sea-salute,  this  fellow,  a  long, 
ill-looking,  yellow-eyed  man  of  five  and  thirty,  stepped 
coolly  towards  the  door  and  disappeared  out  of  the  house. 
One  after  another,  the  rest  followed  his  example ;  each 
making  a  salute  as  he  passed ;  each  adding  some  apology. 
"According  to  rules,"  said  one.  "Fo'c's'le  council," 
said  Morgan.  And  so  with  one  remark  or  another,  all 
marched  out,  and  left  Silver  and  me  alone  with  the 
torch. 

The  sea-cook  instantly  removed  his  pipe. 

"Now,  look  you  here,  Jim  Hawkins,"  he  said,  in  a 
steady  whisper,  that  was  no  more  than  audible,  "you're 
within  half  a  plank  of  death,  and,  what's  a  long  sight 
worse,  of  torture.  They're  going  to  throw  me  off.  But, 
you  mark,  I  stand  by  you  through  thick  and  thin.  I 
didn't  mean  to;  no,  not  till  you  spoke  up.  I  was  about 
desperate  to  lose  that  much  blunt,  and  be  hanged  into 
the  bargain.     But  I  see  you  was  the  right  sort.     I  says 

216 


IN  THE  ENEMY'S  CAMP 

to  myself:  You  stand  by  Hawkins,  John,  and  Hawkins  '11 
stand  by  you.  You're  his  last  card,  and,  by  the  living 
thunder,  John,  he's  yours !  Back  to  back,  says  I.  You 
save  your  witness,  and  he'll  save  your  neck!  " 

I  began  dimly  to  understand. 

"You  mean  all's  lost  ?"  I  asked. 

"Ay,  by  gum,  I  do!"  he  answered.  "Ship  gone, 
neck  gone  —  that's  the  size  of  it.  Once  I  looked  into 
that  bay,  Jim  Hawkins,  and  seen  no  schooner  —  well, 
I'm  tough,  but  I  gave  out.  As  for  that  lot  and  their 
council,  mark  me,  they're  outright  fools  and  cowards. 
I'll  save  your  life  —  if  so  be  as  I  can  —  from  them.  But, 
see  here,  Jim  —  tit  for  tat  —  you  save  Long  John  from 
swinging." 

I  was  bewildered ;  it  seemed  a  thing  so  hopeless  he 
was  asking  —  he,  the  old  buccaneer,  the  ringleader 
throughout. 

"What  I  can  do,  that  I'll  do,"  I  said. 

"  It's  a  bargain ! "  cried  Long  John.  "  You  speak  up 
plucky,  and,  by  thunder!  I've  a  chance." 

He  hobbled  to  the  torch,  where  it  stood  propped 
among  the  firewood,  and  took  a  fresh  light  to  his  pipe. 

"Understand  me,  Jim,"  he  said,  returning.  "I've  a 
head  on  my  shoulders,  I  have.  I'm  on  squire's  side  now. 
I  know  you've  got  that  ship  safe  somewheres.  How 
you  done  it,  I  don't  know,  but  safe  it  is.  I  guess  Hands 
and  O'Brien  turned  soft.  I  never  much  believed  in 
neither  of  them.  Now  you  mark  me.  I  ask  no  ques- 
tions, nor  I  won't  let  others.  I  know  when  a  game's 
up,  I  do ;  and  I  know  a  lad  that's  staunch.  Ah,  you 
that's  young  —  you  and  me  might  have  done  a  power 
of  good  together!" 

217 


TREASURE   ISLAND 

He  drew  some  cognac  from  the  cask  into  a  tin  canikin. 

"Will  you  taste,  messmate  ?"  he  asked;  and  when  I 
had  refused:  "Well,  I'll  take  a  drain  myself,  Jim,"  said 
he.  "I  need  a  caulker,  for  there's  trouble  on  hand. 
And,  talking  o'  trouble,  why  did  that  doctor  give  me 
the  chart,  Jim  ?  " 

My  face  expressed  a  wonder  so  unaffected  that  he 
saw  the  needlessness  of  further  questions. 

"Ah,  well,  he  did,  though,"  said  he.  "And  there's 
something  under  that,  no  doubt  —  something,  surely, 
under  that,  Jim  —  bad  or  good." 

And  he  took  another  swallow  of  the  brandy,  shaking 
his  great  fair  head  like  a  man  who  looks  forward  to  the 
worst. 


218 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

THE  BLACK  SPOT  AGAIN 

The  council  of  the  buccaneers  had  lasted  some  time, 
when  one  of  them  re-entered  the  house,  and  with  a 
repetition  of  the  same  salute,  which  had  in  my  eyes  an 
ironical  air,  begged  for  a  moment's  loan  of  the  torch. 
Silver  briefly  agreed ;  and  this  emissary  retired  again, 
leaving  us  together  in  the  dark. 

"There's  a  breeze  coming,  Jim,"  said  Silver,  who 
had,  by  this  time,  adopted  quite  a  friendly  and  familiar 
tone. 

I  turned  to  the  loophole  nearest  me  and  looked  out. 
The  embers  of  the  great  fire  had  so  far  burned  themselves 
out,  and  now  glowed  so  low  and  duskily,  that  I  under- 
stood why  these  conspirators  desired  a  torch.  About 
half  way  down  the  slope  to  the  stockade,  they  were 
collected  in  a  group ;  one  held  the  light ;  another  was  on 
his  knees  in  their  midst,  and  I  saw  the  blade  of  an  open 
knife  shine  in  his  hand  with  varying  colours,  in  the 
moon  and  torchlight.  The  rest  were  all  somewhat 
stooping,  as  though  watching  the  manoeuvres  of  this 
last.  I  could  just  make  out  that  he  had  a  book  as  well 
as  a  knife  in  his  hand;  and  was  still  wondering  how 
anything  so  incongruous  had  come  in  their  possession, 
when  the  kneeling  figure  rose  once  more  to  his  feet, 

219 


TREASURE   ISLAND 

and  the  whole  party  began  to  move  together  towards 
the  house. 

"  Here  they  come,"  said  I;  and  I  returned  to  my  for- 
mer position,  for  it  seemed  beneath  my  dignity  that  they 
should  find  me  watching  them. 

"Well,  let  'em  come,  lad  —  let  'em  come,"  said  Sil- 
ver, cheerily.     "  I've  still  a  shot  in  my  locker." 

The  door  opened,  and  the  five  men,  standing  huddled 
together  just  inside,  pushed  one  of  their  number  for- 
ward. In  any  other  circumstances  it  would  have  been 
comical  to  see  his  slow  advance,  hesitating  as  he  set 
down  each  foot,  but  holding  his  closed  right  hand  in 
front  of  him. 

"Step  up,  lad, "  cried  Silver.  "  I  won't  eat  you.  Hand 
it  over,  lubber.  I  know  the  rules,  I  do ;  I  won't  hurt  a 
depytation." 

Thus  encouraged,  the  buccaneer  stepped  forth  more 
briskly,  and  having  passed  something  to  Silver,  from 
hand  to  hand,  slipped  yet  more  smartly  back  again  to 
his  companions. 

The  sea-cook  looked  at  what  had  been  given  him. 

"The  black  spot!  I  thought  so,"  he  observed. 
"Where  might  you  have  got  the  paper?  Why,  hillo! 
look  here,  now :  this  ain't  lucky !  You've  gone  and  cut 
this  out  of  a  Bible.     What  fool's  cut  a  Bible  ?  " 

' '  Ah,  there ! "  said  Morgan  — "  there !  Wot  did  I  say  ? 
No  good'll  come  o'  that,  I  said." 

"Well,  you've  about  fixed  it  now,  among  you,"  con- 
tinued Silver.  "You'll  all  swing  now,  I  reckon.  What 
soft-headed  lubber  had  a  Bible  ?  " 

"It  was  Dick,"  said  one. 

"Dick,  was  it  ?  Then  Dick  can  get  to  prayers,"  said 
220 


THE   BLACK  SPOT  AGAIN 

Silver.  "  He's  seen  his  slice  of  luck,  has  Dick,  and  you 
may  lay  to  that." 

But  here  the  long  man  with  the  yellow  eyes  struck  in. 

"  Belay  that  talk,  John  Silver,"  he  said.  "This  crew 
has  tipped  you  the  black  spot  in  full  council,  as  in  dooty 
bound;  just  you  turn  it  over,  as  in  dooty  bound,  and 
see  what's  wrote  there.     Then  you  can  talk." 

"Thanky,  George,"  replied  the  sea-cook.  "You  al- 
ways was  brisk  for  business,  and  has  the  rules  by  heart, 
George,  as  I'm  pleased  to  see.  Well,  what  is  it,  any- 
way? Ah!  v Deposed' — that's  it,  is  it?  Very  pretty 
wrote,  to  be  sure ;  like  print,  I  swear.  Your  hand  o'  write 
George  ?  Why,  you  was  gettin'  quite  a  leadin'  man  in 
this  here  crew.  You'll  be  cap'n  next,  I  shouldn't  won- 
der. Just  oblige  me  with  that  torch  again,  will  you  ? 
this  pipe  don't  draw." 

"Come,  now,"  said  George,  "you  don't  fool  this 
crew  no  more.  You're  a  funny  man,  by  your  account; 
but  you're  over  now,  and  you'll  maybe  step  down  off 
that  barrel,  and  help  vote." 

"  I  thought  you  said  you  knowed  the  rules,"  returned 
Silver,  contemptuously.  "Leastways,  if  you  don't,  I 
do;  and  I  wait  here  —  and  I'm  still  your  cap'n,  mind  — 
till  you  outs  with  your  grievances,  and  I  reply,  in  the 
meantime,  your  black  spot  ain't  worth  a  biscuit.  After 
that,  we'll  see." 

" Oh,"  replied  George,  "you  don't  be  under  no  kind 
of  apprehension ;  we  're  all  square,  we  are.  First,  you've 
made  a  hash  of  this  cruise  —  you'll  be  a  bold  man  to  say 
no  to  that.  Second,  you  let  the  enemy  out  o'  this  here 
trap  for  nothing.  Why  did  they  want  out  ?  I  dunno; 
but  it's  pretty  plain  they  wanted  it.     Third,  you  would- 


TREASURE   ISLAND 

n't  let  us  go  at  them  upon  the  march.  Oh,  we  see 
through  you,  John  Silver;  you  want  to  play  booty,  that's 
what's  wrong  with  you.  And  then,  fourth,  there's  this 
here  boy." 

''Is  that  all?"  asked  Silver,  quietly. 

"Enough,  too,"  retorted  George.  "  We'll  all  swing 
and  sun-dry  for  your  bungling." 

"Well,  now,  look  here,  I'll  answer  these  four  p'ints; 
one  after  another  I'll  answer  'em.  I  made  a  hash  o'  this 
cruise,  did  I  ?  Well,  now,  you  all  know  what  I  wanted ; 
and  you  all  know,  if  that  had  been  done,  that  we'd  'a' 
been  aboard  the  Hispaniola  this  night  as  ever  was,  every 
man  of  us  alive,  and  fit,  and  full  of  good  plum-duff,  and 
the  treasure  in  the  hold  of  her,  by  thunder!  Well,  who 
crossed  me  ?  Who  forced  my  hand,  as  was  the  lawful 
cap'n  ?  Who  tipped  me  the  black  spot  the  day  we 
landed,  and  began  this  dance  ?  Ah,  it's  a  fine  dance  — 
I'm  with  you  there  —  and  looks  mighty  like  a  hornpipe 
in  a  rope's  end  at  Execution  Dock  by  London  town,  it 
does.  But  who  done  it  ?  Why,  it  was  Anderson,  and 
Hands,  and  you,  George  Merry!  And  you're  the  last 
above  board  of  that  same  meddling  crew ;  and  you  have 
the  Davy  Jones's  insolence  to  up  and  stand  for  cap'n 
over  me — you,  that  sank  the  lot  of  us !  By  the  powers ! 
but  this  tops  the  stirTest  yarn  to  nothing." 

Silver  paused,  and  I  could  see  by  the  faces  of  George 
and  his  late  comrades  that  these  words  had  not  been 
said  in  vain. 

"That's  for  number  one,"  cried  the  accused,  wiping 
the  sweat  from  his  brow,  for  he  had  been  talking  with 
a  vehemence  that  shook  the  house.  "  Why,  I  give  you 
my  word,  I'm  sick  to  speak  to  you.     You've  neither 


THE  BLACK  SPOT  AGAIN 

sense  nor  memory,  and  I  leave  it  to  fancy  where  your 
mothers  was  that  let  you  come  to  sea.  Sea!  Gentle- 
tlemen  o'  fortune!     I  reckon  tailors  is  your  trade." 

"Go  on,  John,"  said  Morgan.  "Speak  up  to  the 
others." 

"Ah,  the  others!  "  returned  John.  "They're  a  nice 
lot,  ain't  they  ?  You  say  this  cruise  is  bungled.  Ah ! 
by  gum,  if  you  could  understand  how  bad  it's  bungled, 
you  would  see !  We're  that  near  the  gibbet  that  my 
neck's  stiff  with  thinking  on  it.  You've  seen  'em, 
maybe,  hanged  in  chains,  birds  about  'em,  seamen  p'int- 
ing  'em  out  as  they  go  down  with  the  tide.  '  Who's 
that ?' says  one.  'That!  Why,  that's  John  Silver.  I 
knowed  him  well,'  says  another.  And  you  can  hear 
the  chains  a-jangle  as  you  go  about  and  reach  for  the 
other  buoy.  Now,  that's  about  where  we  are,  every 
mother's  son  of  us,  thanks  to  him,  and  Hands,  and  An- 
derson, and  other  ruination  fools  of  you.  And  if  you 
want  to  know  about  number  four,  and  that  boy,  why, 
shiver  my  timbers !  isn't  he  a  hostage  ?  Are  we  a-going 
to  waste  a  hostage  ?  No,  not  us ;  he  might  be  our  last 
chance,  and  I  shouldn't  wonder.  Kill  that  boy  ?  not 
me,  mates!  And  number  three?  Ah,  well,  there's  a 
deal  to  say  to  number  three.  Maybe  you  don't  count  it 
nothing  to  have  a  real  college  doctor  come  to  see  you 
everyday — you,  John,  with  your  head  broke — or  you, 
George  Merry,  that  had  the  ague  shakes  upon  you  not 
six  hours  agone,  and  has  your  eyes  the  colour  of  lemon 
peel  to  this  same  moment  on  the  clock  ?  And  may  be, 
perhaps,  you  didn't  know  there  was  a  consort  coming, 
either  ?  But  there  is ;  and  not  so  long  till  then ;  and 
we'll  see  who'll  be  glad  to  have  a  hostage  when  it  comes 

223 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

to  that.  And  as  for  number  two,  and  why  I  made  a 
bargain — well,  you  came  crawling  on  your  knees  to 
me  to  make  it  —  on  your  knees  you  came,  you  was  that 
downhearted  —  and  you'd  have  starved,  too,  if  I  hadn't 
—  but  that's  a  trifle!  you  look  there  —  that's  why!" 

And  he  cast  down  upon  the  floor  a  paper  that  I  in- 
stantly recognised  —  none  other  than  the  chart  on  yel- 
low paper,  with  the  three  red  crosses,  that  I  had  found  in 
the  oilcloth  at  the  bottom  of  the  captain's  chest.  Why  the 
doctor  had  given  it  to  him  was  more  than  I  could  fancy. 

But  if  it  were  inexplicable  to  me,  the  appearance  of 
the  chart  was  incredible  to  the  surviving  mutineers. 
They  leaped  upon  it  like  cats  upon  a  mouse.  It  went 
from  hand  to  hand,  one  tearing  it  from  another;  and  by 
the  oaths  and  the  cries  and  the  childish  laughter  with 
which  they  accompanied  their  examination,  you  would 
have  thought,  not  only  they  were  fingering  the  very 
gold,  but  were  at  sea  with  it,  besides,  in  safety. 

"Yes,"  said  one,  "that's  Flint,  sure  enough.  J.  F., 
and  a  score  below,  with  a  clove  hitch  to  it;  so  he  done 
ever." 

"  Mighty  pretty,"  said  George.  "  But  how  are  we  to 
get  away  with  it,  and  us  no  ship  ?" 

Silver  suddenly  sprang  up,  and  supporting  himself 
with  a  hand  against  the  wall:  "Now  I  give  you  warn- 
ing, George,"  he  cried.  "One  more  word  of  your  sauce, 
and  I'll  call  you  down  and  fight  you.  How  ?  Why, 
how  do  I  know  ?  You  had  ought  to  tell  me  that  —  you 
and  the  rest,  that  lost  me  my  schooner,  with  your  in- 
terference, burn  you !  But  not  you,  you  can't ;  you  hain't 
got  the  invention  of  a  cockroach.  But  civil  you  can 
speak,  and  shall,  George  Merry,  you  may  lay  to  that." 

224 


THE  BLACK  SPOT  AGAIN 

"  That's  fair  enow,"  said  the  old  man  Morgan. 

"Fair!  I  reckon  so,"  said  the  sea-cook.  "You  lost 
the  ship;  I  found  the  treasure.  Who's  the  better  man 
at  that  ?  And  now  I  resign,  by  thunder!  Elect  whom 
you  please  to  be  your  cap'n  now;  I'm  done  with  it." 

' '  Silver !  "  they  cried.  ' '  Barbecue  for  ever !  Barbecue 
for  cap'n ! " 

* '  So  that's  the  toon,  is  it  ?  "  cried  the  cook.  ' '  George, 
I  reckon  you'll  have  to  wait  another  turn,  friend;  and 
lucky  for  you  as  I'm  not  a  revengeful  man.  But  that 
was  never  my  way.  And  now,  shipmates,  this  black 
spot  ?  'Tain't  much  good  now,  is  it  ?  Dick's  crossed 
his  luck  and  spoiled  his  Bible,  and  that's  about  all." 

"  It'll  do  to  kiss  the  book  on  still,  won't  it  ?  "  growled 
Dick,  who  was  evidently  uneasy  at  the  curse  he  had 
brought  upon  himself. 

"A  Bible  with  a  bit  cut  out!"  returned  Silver,  de- 
risively. "Not  it.  It  don't  bind  no  more'n  a  ballad- 
book." 

"Don't  it,  though  ?"  cried  Dick,  with  a  sort  of  joy. 
"Well,  I  reckon  that's  worth  having,  too." 

"  Here,  Jim  —  here's  a  cur'osity  for  you,"  said  Silver; 
and  he  tossed  me  the  paper. 

It  was  a  round,  about  the  size  of  a  crown  piece.  One 
side  was  blank,  for  it  had  been  the  last  leaf ;  the  other 
contained  a  verse  or  two  of  Revelation  —  these  words 
among  the  rest,  which  struck  sharply  home  upon  my 
mind:  "Without  are  dogs  and  murderers."  The  printed 
side  had  been  blackened  with  wood  ash,  which  already 
began  to  come  off  and  soil  my  fingers;  on  the  blank 
side  had  been  written  with  the  same  material  the  one 
word  "  Depposed."     I  have  that  curiosity  beside  me  at 

225 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

this  moment;  but  not  a  trace  of  writing  now  remains 
beyond  a  single  scratch,  such  as  a  man  might  make 
with  his  thumb-nail. 

That  was  the  end  of  the  night's  business.  Soon  after, 
with  a  drink  all  round,  we  lay  down  to  sleep,  and  the 
outside  of  Silver's  vengeance  was  to  put  George  Merry 
up  for  sentinel,  and  threaten  him  with  death  if  he  should 
prove  unfaithful. 

It  was  long  ere  I  could  close  an  eye,  and  Heaven 
knows  I  had  matter  enough  for  thought  in  the  man 
whom  I  had  slain  that  afternoon,  in  my  own  most  peril- 
ous position,  and,  above  all,  in  the  remarkable  game 
that  I  saw  Silver  now  engaged  upon  —  keeping  the  mu- 
tineers together  with  one  hand,  and  grasping,  with  the 
other,  after  every  means,  possible  and  impossible,  to 
make  his  peace  and  save  his  miserable  life.  He  himself 
slept  peacefully,  and  snored  aloud ;  yet  my  heart  was  sore 
for  him,  wicked  as  he  was,  to  think  on  the  dark  perils 
that  environed,  and  the  shameful  gibbet  that  awaited 
him. 


226 


CHAPTER  XXX 

ON   PAROLE 

I  was  wakened  —  indeed,  we  were  all  wakened,  for  I 
could  see  even  the  sentinel  shake  himself  together  from 
where  he  had  fallen  against  the  door-post  —  by  a  clear, 
hearty  voice  hailing  us  from  the  margin  of  the  wood : — 

1 '  Block-house,  ahoy ! "  it  cried.     ' '  Here's  the  doctor. " 

And  the  doctor  it  was.  Although  I  was  glad  to  hear 
the  sound,  yet  my  gladness  was  not  without  admixture. 
I  remembered  with  confusion  my  insubordinate  and 
stealthy  conduct ;  and  when  I  saw  where  it  had  brought 
me  —  among  what  companions  and  surrounded  by  what 
dangers  —  I  felt  ashamed  to  look  him  in  the  face. 

He  must  have  risen  in  the  dark,  for  the  day  had  hardly 
come;  and  when  I  ran  to  a  loophole  and  looked  out,  I 
saw  him  standing,  like  Silver  once  before,  up  to  the 
mid-leg  in  creeping  vapour. 

"You,  doctor!  Top  o'  the  morning  to  you,  sir!" 
cried  Silver,  broad  awake  and  beaming  with  good  nature 
in  a  moment  ' '  Bright  and  early,  to  be  sure ;  and  it's  the 
early  bird,  as  the  saying  goes,  that  gets  the  rations. 
George,  shake  up  your  timbers,  son,  and  help  Dr.  Live- 
sey  over  the  ship's  side.  All  a-doin'  well,  your  patients 
was  —  all  well  and  merry." 

So  he  pattered  on,  standing  on  the  hill-top,  with  his 
227 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

crutch  under  his  elbow,  and  one  hand  upon  the  side  of 
the  log-house —  quite  the  old  John  in  voice,  manner,  and 
expression. 

"We've  quite  a  surprise  for  you,  too,  sir,"  he  con- 
tinued. ■ '  We've  a  little  stranger  here  —  he !  he !  A  noo 
boarder  and  lodger,  sir,  and  looking  fit  and  taut  as  a 
fiddle;  slep'  like  a  supercargo,  he  did,  right  alongside 
of  John  —  stem  to  stem  we  was,  all  night." 

Dr.  Livesey  was  by  this  time  across  the  stockade  and 
pretty  near  the  cook ;  and  I  could  hear  the  alteration  in 
his  voice  as  he  said : — 

"Not  Jim?" 

"The  very  same  Jim  as  ever  was,"  says  Silver. 

The  doctor  stopped  outright,  although  he  did  not 
speak,  and  it  was  some  seconds  before  he  seemed  able 
to  move  on. 

"Well,  well,"  he  said,  at  last,  "duty  first  and  pleas- 
ure afterwards,  as  you  might  have  said  yourself,  Silver. 
Let  us  overhaul  these  patients  of  yours." 

A  moment  afterwards  he  had  entered  the  block-house, 
and,  with  one  grim  nod  to  me,  proceeded  with  his  work 
among  the  sick.  He  seemed  under  no  apprehension, 
though  he  must  have  known  that  his  life,  among  these 
treacherous  demons,  depended  on  a  hair;  and  he  rattled 
on  to  his  patients  as  if  he  were  paying  an  ordinary  pro- 
fessional visit  in  a  quiet  English  family.  His  manner,  I 
suppose,  reacted  on  the  men;  for  they  behaved  to  him 
as  if  nothing  had  occurred  —  as  if  he  were  still  ship's 
doctor,  and  they  still  faithful  hands  before  the  mast. 

"  You're  doing  well,  my  friend,"  he  said  to  the  fellow 
with  the  bandaged  head,  "and  if  ever  any  person  had 
a  close  shave,  it  was  you ;  your  head  must  be  as  hard 

228 


ON   PAROLE 

as  iron.  Well,  George,  how  goes  it  ?  You're  a  pretty 
colour,  certainly;  why,  your  liver,  man,  is  upside  down. 
Did  you  take  that  medicine  ?  Did  he  take  that  medicine, 
men?" 

"Ay,  ay,  sir,  he  took  it,  sure  enough,"  returned 
Morgan. 

"Because,  you  see,  since  I  am  mutineers'  doctor,  or 
prison  doctor,  as  I  prefer  to  call  it,"  says  Doctor  Livesey, 
in  his  pleasantest  way,  "  I  make  it  a  point  of  honour  not 
to  lose  a  man  for  King  George  (God  bless  him !)  and  the 
gallows." 

The  rogues  looked  at  each  other,  but  swallowed  the 
home-thrust  in  silence. 

"Dick  don't  feel  well,  sir,"  said  one. 

"Don't  he?"  replied  the  doctor.  "Well,  step  up 
here,  Dick,  and  let  me  see  your  tongue.  No,  I  should 
be  surprised  if  he  did !  the  man's  tongue  is  fit  to  frighten 
the  French.     Another  fever." 

"Ah,  there,"  said  Morgan,  "that  corned  of  sp'iling 
Bibles." 

1 '  That  corned  —  as  you  call  it  —  of  being  arrant  asses, " 
retorted  the  doctor,  "and  not  having  sense  enough  to 
know  honest  air  from  poison,  and  the  dry  land  from  a 
vile,  pestiferous  slough.  I  think  it  most  probable  — 
though,  of  course,  it's  only  an  opinion  —  that  you'll  all 
have  the  deuce  to  pay  before  you  get  that  malaria  out  of 
your  systems.  Camp  in  a  bog,  would  you  ?  Silver,  I'm 
surprised  at  you.  You're  less  of  a  fool  than  many,  take 
you  all  round ;  but  you  don't  appear  to  me  to  have  the 
rudiments  of  a  notion  of  the  rules  of  health. 

"Well,"  he  added,  after  he  had  dosed  them  round, 
and  they  had  taken  his  prescriptions,  with  really  laugh- 

229 


TREASURE   ISLAND 

'able  humility,  more  like  charity  school-children  than 
blood-guilty  mutineers  and  pirates —  "  well,  that's  done 
for  to-day.  And  now  I  should  wish  to  have  a  talk  with 
that  boy,  please." 

And  he  nodded  his  head  in  my  direction  carelessly. 

George  Merry  was  at  the  door,  spitting  and  spluttering 
over  some  bad-tasted  medicine ;  but  at  the  first  word  of 
the  doctor's  proposal  he  swung  round  with  a  deep  flush, 
and  cried  "No!"  and  swore. 

Silver  struck  the  barrel  with  his  open  hand. 

"Si-lence!"  he  roared,  and  looked  about  him  posi- 
tively like  a  lion.  "  Doctor,"  he  went  on,  in  his  usual 
tones,  "I  was  a-thinking  of  that,  knowing  as  how  you 
had  a  fancy  for  the  boy.  We're  all  humbly  grateful  for 
your  kindness,  and,  as  you  see,  puts  faith  in  you,  and 
takes  the  drugs  down  like  that  much  grog.  And  I  take 
it  I've  found  a  way  as  '11  suit  all.  Hawkins,  will  you 
give  me  your  word  of  honour  as  a  young  gentleman  —  for 
a  young  gentleman  you  are,  although  poor  born  —  your 
word  of  honour  not  to  slip  your  cable  ?" 

I  readily  gave  the  pledge  required. 

"Then,  doctor,"  said  Silver,  "you  just  step  outside 
o'  that  stockade,  and  once  you're  there,  I'll  bring  the 
boy  down  on  the  inside,  and  I  reckon  you  can  yarn 
through  the  spars.  Good  day  to  you,  sir,  and  all  our 
dooties  to  the  squire  and  Cap'n  Smollett." 

The  explosion  of  disapproval,  which  nothing  but  Sil- 
ver's black  looks  had  restrained,  broke  out  immediately 
the  doctor  had  left  the  house.  Silver  was  roundly  ac- 
cused of  playing  double  —  of  trying  to  make  a  separate 
peace  for  himself —  of  sacrificing  the  interests  of  his  ac- 
complices and  victims;  and,  in  one  word,  of  the  iden- 

230 


ON  PAROLE 

tical,  exact  thing  that  he  was  doing.  It  seemed  to  me 
so  obvious,  in  this  case,  that  I  could  not  imagine  how 
he  was  to  turn  their  anger.  But  he  was  twice  the  man 
the  rest  were ;  and  his  last  night's  victory  had  given  him 
a  huge  preponderance  on  their  minds.  He  called  them 
all  the  fools  and  dolts  you  can  imagine,  said  it  was  nec- 
essary I  should  talk  to  the  doctor,  fluttered  the  chart  in 
their  faces,  asked  them  if  they  could  afford  to  break  the 
treaty  the  very  day  they  were  bound  a-treasure-hunting. 

"  No,  by  thunder  !  "  he  cried,  "  it's  us  must  break  the 
treaty  when  the  time  comes ;  and  till  then  I'll  gammon 
that  doctor,  if  I  have  to  ile  his  boots  with  brandy." 

And  then  he  bade  them  get  the  fire  lit,  and  stalked  out 
upon  his  crutch,  with  his  hand  on  my  shoulder,  leaving 
them  in  a  disarray,  and  silenced  by  his  volubility  rather 
than  convinced. 

"Slow,  lad,  slow,"  he  said.  "They  might  round 
upon  us  in  a  twinkle  of  an  eye,  if  we  was  seen  to  hurry." 

Very  deliberately,  then,  did  we  advance  across  the 
sand  to  where  the  doctor  awaited  us  on  the  other  side 
of  the  stockade,  and  as  soon  as  we  were  within  easy 
speaking  distance,  Silver  stopped. 

"  You'll  make  a  note  of  this  here  also,  doctor,"  says 
he,  "and  the  boy '11  tell  you  how  I  saved  his  life,  and 
were  deposed  for  it,  too,  and  you  may  lay  to  that. 
Doctor,  when  a  man's  steering  as  near  the  wind  as  me 
—  playing  chuck-farthing  with  the  last  breath  in  his 
body,  like  —  you  wouldn't  think  it  too  much,  mayhap, 
to  give  him  one  good  word?  You'll  please  bear  in 
mind  it's  not  my  life  only  now  —  it's  that  boy's  into  the 
bargain ;  and  you'll  speak  me  fair,  doctor,  and  give  me 
a  bit  o'  hope  to  go  on,  for  the  sake  of  mercy." 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

Silver  was  a  changed  man,  once  he  was  out  there  and 
had  his  back  to  his  friends  and  the  block-house ;  his 
cheeks  seemed  to  have  fallen  in,  his  voice  trembled; 
never  was  a  soul  more  dead  in  earnest. 

"  Why,  John,  you're  not  afraid  ?  "  asked  Doctor  Live- 
sey. 

"  Doctor,  I'm  no  coward ;  no,  not  I  —  not  so  much ! " 
and  he  snapped  his  fingers.  "  If  I  was  I  wouldn't  say 
it.  But  I'll  own  up  fairly,  I've  the  shakes  upon  me  for 
the  gallows.  You're  a  good  man  and  a  true;  I  never 
seen  a  better  man !  And  you'll  not  forget  what  I  done 
good,  not  any  more  than  you'll  forget  the  bad,  I  know. 
And  I  step  aside  —  see  here  —  and  leave  you  and  Jim 
alone.  And  you'll  put  that  down  for  me,  too,  for  it's  a 
long  stretch,  is  that!" 

So  saying,  he  stepped  back  a  little  way,  till  he  was 
out  of  earshot,  and  there  sat  down  upon  a  tree-stump 
and  began  to  whistle;  spinning  round  now  and  again 
upon  his  seat  so  as  to  command  a  sight,  sometimes  of 
me  and  the  doctor,  and  sometimes  of  his  unruly  ruffians 
as  they  went  to  and  fro  in  the  sand,  between  the  fire  — 
which  they  were  busy  rekindling  —  and  the  house,  from 
which  they  brought  forth  pork  and  bread  to  make  the 
breakfast. 

"  So,  Jim,"  said  the  doctor,  sadly,  "  here  you  are.  As 
you  have  brewed,  so  shall  you  drink,  my  boy.  Heaven 
knows,  I  cannot  find  it  in  my  heart  to  blame  you ;  but 
this  much  I  will  say,  be  it  kind  or  unkind :  when  Cap- 
tain Smollett  was  well,  you  dared  not  have  gone  off ; 
and  when  he  was  ill,  and  couldn't  help  it,  by  George,  it 
was  downright  cowardly ! " 

I  will  own  that  I  here  began  to  weep.  "Doctor,"  I 
232 


ON   PAROLE 

said,  "you  might  spare  me.  I  have  blamed  myself 
enough;  my  life's  forfeit  anyway,  and  I  should  have 
been  dead  by  now,  if  Silver  hadn't  stood  for  me;  and 
doctor,  believe  this,  I  can  die  —  and  I  daresay  I  deserve 
it  —  but  what  I  fear  is  torture.  If  they  come  to  tor- 
ture me " 

"Jim,"  the  doctor  interrupted,  and  his  voice  was  quite 
changed,  "Jim  I  can't  have  this.  Whip  over,  and  we'll 
run  for  it. " 

"Doctor,"  said  I,  "I  passed  my  word." 

"I  know,  I  know,"  he  cried.  "We  can't  help  that, 
Jim,  now.  I'll  take  it  on  my  shoulders,  holus  bolus, 
blame  and  shame,  my  boy ;  but  stay  here,  I  cannot  let 
you.  Jump !  One  jump,  and  you're  out,  and  we'll  run 
for  it  like  antelopes." 

"No,"  I  replied,  " you  know  right  well  you  wouldn't 
do  the  thing  yourself ;  neither  you,  nor  squire,  nor  cap- 
tain; and  no  more  will  I.  Silver  trusted  me;  I  passed 
my  word,  and  back  I  go.  But,  doctor,  you  did  not  let 
me  finish.  If  they  come  to  torture  me,  I  might  let  slip 
a  word  of  where  the  ship  is ;  for  I  got  the  ship,  part  by 
luck  and  part  by  risking,  and  she  lies  in  North  Inlet,  on 
the  southern  beach,  and  just  below  high  water.  At  half 
tide  she  must  be  high  and  dry." 

"The  ship!"  exclaimed  the  doctor. 

Rapidly  I  described  to  him  my  adventures,  and  he 
heard  me  out  in  silence. 

"There  is  a  kind  of  fate  in  this,"  he  observed,  when 
I  had  done.  "  Every  step,  it's  you  that  saves  our  lives; 
and  do  you  suppose  by  any  chance  that  we  are  going  to 
let  you  lose  yours  ?  That  would  be  a  poor  return,  my 
boy.     You  found  out  the  plot;  you  found  Ben  Gunn — 

233 


TREASURE   ISLAND 

the  best  deed  that  ever  you  did,  or  will  do,  though  you 
live  to  ninety.  Oh,  by  Jupiter,  and  talking  of  Ben  Gunn ! 
why,  this  is  the  mischief  in  person.  Silver,"  he  cried, 
1 '  Silver !  —  I'll  give  you  a  piece  of  advice, "  he  continued, 
as  the  cook  drew  near  again ;  "  don't  you  be  in  any  great 
hurry  after  that  treasure." 

"  Why,  sir,  I  do  my  possible,  which  that  ain't,"  said 
Silver.  "  I  can  only,  asking  your  pardon,  save  my  life 
and  the  boy's  by  seeking  for  that  treasure ;  and  you  may 
lay  to  that." 

"Well,  Silver,"  replied  the  doctor,  "if  that  is  so,  I'll 
go  one  step  further:  look  out  for  squalls  when  you 
find  it." 

"Sir,"  said  Silver,  "as  between  man  and  man,  that's 
too  much  and  too  little.  What  you're  after,  why  you 
left  the  block-house,  why  you  given  me  that  there  chart, 
I  don't  know,  now,  do  I  ?  and  yet  I  done  your  bidding 
with  my  eyes  shut  and  never  a  word  of  hope!  But  no, 
this  here's  too  much.  If  you  won't  tell  me  what  you 
mean  plain  out,  just  say  so,  and  I'll  leave  the  helm." 

"No,"  said  the  doctor,  musingly,  "I've  no  right  to 
say  more;  it's  not  my  secret,  you  see,  Silver,  or,  I  give 
you  my  word,  I'd  tell  it  you.  But  I'll  go  as  far  with 
you  as  I  dare  go,  and  a  step  beyond ;  for  I'll  have  my 
wig  sorted  by  the  captain  or  I'm  mistaken!  And,  first, 
I'll  give  you  a  bit  of  hope :  Silver,  if  we  both  get  alive 
out  of  this  wolf-trap,  I'll  do  my  best  to  save  you,  short 
of  perjury." 

Silver's  face  was  radiant.  "You  couldn't  say  more, 
I'm  sure,  sir,  not  if  you  was  my  mother,"  he  cried. 

"Well,  that's  my  first  concession,"  added  the  doctor. 
"My  second  is  a  piece  of  advice:    Keep  the  boy  close 

234 


ON   PAROLE 

beside  you,  and  when  you  need  help,  halloo.  I'm  off 
to  seek  it  for  you,  and  that  itself  will  show  you  if  I  speak 
at  random.     Good-bye,  Jim." 

And  Dr.  Livesey  shook  hands  with  me  through  the 
stockade,  nodded  to  Silver,  and  set  off  at  a  brisk  pace 
into  the  wood. 


2J5 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

THE  TREASURE   HUNT — FLINT'S  POINTER 

"Jim,"  said  Silver,  when  we  were  alone,  "if  I  saved 
your  life,  you  saved  mine;  and  I'll  not  forget  it.  I  seen 
the  doctor  waving  you  to  run  for  it  —  with  the  tail  of 
my  eye,  I  did ;  and  I  seen  you  say  no,  as  plain  as  hear- 
ing. Jim,  that's  one  to  you.  This  is  the  first  glint  of 
hope  I  had  since  the  attack  failed,  and  I  owe  it  you. 
And  now,  Jim,  we're  to  go  in  for  this  here  treasure- 
hunting,  with  sealed  orders,  too,  and  I  don't  like  it ;  and 
you  and  me  must  stick  close,  back  to  back  like,  and 
we'll  save  our  necks  in  spite  o'  fate  and  fortune." 

Just  then  a  man  hailed  us  from  the  fire  that  breakfast 
was  ready,  and  we  were  soon  seated  here  and  there 
about  the  sand  over  biscuit  and  fried  junk.  They  had 
lit  a  fire  fit  to  roast  an  ox ;  and  it  was  now  grown  so 
hot  that  they  could  only  approach  it  from  the  windward, 
and  even  there  not  without  precaution.  In  the  same 
wasteful  spirit,  they  had  cooked,  I  suppose,  three  times 
more  than  we  could  eat;  and  one  of  them,  with  an 
empty  laugh,  threw  what  was  left  into  the  fire,  which 
blazed  and  roared  again  over  this  unusual  fuel.  I  never 
in  my  life  saw  men  so  careless  of  the  morrow ;  hand  to 
mouth  is  the  only  word  that  can  describe  their  way  of 
doing ;  and  what  with  wasted  food  and  sleeping  sen- 

236 


THE  TREASURE  HUNT— FLINT'S  POINTER 

tries,  though  they  were  bold  enough  for  a  brush  and  be 
done  with  it,  I  could  see  their  entire  unfitness  for  any- 
thing like  a  prolonged  campaign. 

Even  Silver,  eating  away,  with  Captain  Flint  upon 
his  shoulder,  had  not  a  word  of  blame  for  their  reckless- 
ness. And  this  the  more  surprised  me,  for  I  thought 
he  had  never  shown  himself  so  cunning  as  he  did  then. 

''Ay,  mates,"  said  he,  "it's  lucky  you  have  Barbecue 
to  think  for  you  with  this  here  head.  I  got  what  I 
wanted,  I  did.  Sure  enough,  they  have  the  ship.  Where 
they  have  it,  I  don't  know  yet;  but  once  we  hit  the 
treasure,  we'll  have  to  jump  about  and  find  out.  And 
then,  mates,  us  that  has  the  boats,  I  reckon,  has  the 
upper  hand." 

Thus  he  kept  running  on,  with  his  mouth  full  of  the 
hot  bacon :  thus  he  restored  their  hope  and  confidence, 
and,  I  more  than  suspect,  repaired  his  own  at  the  same 
time. 

"As  for  hostage,"  he  continued,  "that's  his  last  talk, 
I  guess,  with  them  he  loves  so  dear.  I've  got  my  piece 
o'  news,  and  thanky  to  him  for  that;  but  it's  over  and 
done.  I'll  take  him  in  a  line  when  we  go  treasure-hunt- 
ing, for  we'll  keep  him  like  so  much  gold,  in  case  of 
accidents,  you  mark,  and  in  the  meantime.  Once  we 
got  the  ship  and  treasure  both,  and  off  to  sea  like  jolly 
companions,  why,  then,  we'll  talk  Mr.  Hawkins  over, 
we  will,  and  we'll  give  him  his  share,  to  be  sure,  for  all 
his  kindness." 

It  was  no  wonder  the  men  were  in  a  good  humour 
now.  For  my  part,  I  was  horribly  cast  down.  Should 
the  scheme  he  had  now  sketched  prove  feasible,  Silver, 
already  doubly  a  traitor,  would  not  hesitate  to  adopt  it. 

237 


TREASURE   ISLAND 

He  had  still  a  foot  in  either  camp,  and  there  was  no 
doubt  he  would  prefer  wealth  and  freedom  with  the 
pirates  to  a  bare  escape  from  hanging,  which  was  the 
best  he  had  to  hope  on  our  side. 

Nay,  and  even  if  things  so  fell  out  that  he  was  forced 
to  keep  his  faith  with  Dr.  Livesey,  even  then  what  dan- 
ger lay  before  us !  What  a  moment  that  would  be  when 
the  suspicions  of  his  followers  turned  to  certainty,  and 
he  and  I  should  have  to  fight  for  dear  life  —  he,  a  crip- 
ple, and  I,  a  boy  —  against  five  strong  and  active  sea- 
men! 

Add  to  this  double  apprehension,  the  mystery  that 
still  hung  over  the  behaviour  of  my  friends ;  their  unex- 
plained desertion  of  the  stockade;  their  inexplicable 
cession  of  the  chart;  or,  harder  still  to  understand,  the 
doctor's  last  warning  to  Silver,  "Look  out  for  squalls 
when  you  find  it;"  and  you  will  readily  believe  how 
little  taste  I  found  in  my  breakfast,  and  with  how  un- 
easy a  heart  I  set  forth  behind  my  captors  on  the  quest 
for  treasure. 

We  made  a  curious  figure,  had  any  one  been  there  to 
see  us ;  all  in  soiled  sailor  clothes,  and  all  but  me  armed 
to  the  teeth.  Silver  had  two  guns  slung  about  him  — 
one  before  and  one  behind  —  besides  the  great  cutlass 
at  his  waist,  and  a  pistol  in  each  pocket  of  his  square- 
tailed  coat.  To  complete  his  strange  appearance,  Cap- 
tain Flint  sat  perched  upon  his  shoulder  and  gabbling 
odds  and  ends  of  purposeless  sea-talk.  I  had  a  line 
about  my  waist,  and  followed  obediently  after  the  sea- 
cook,  who  held  the  loose  end  of  the  rope,  now  in  his 
free  hand,  now  between  his  powerful  teeth.  For  all  the 
world,  I  was  led  like  a  dancing  bear. 

238 


THE  TREASURE  HUNT  — FLINT'S  POINTER 

The  other  men  were  variously  burthened ;  some  carry- 
ing picks  and  shovels  —  for  that  had  been  the  very  first 
necessary  they  brought  ashore  from  the  Hispaniola — 
others  laden  with  pork,  bread,  and  brandy  for  the  mid- 
day meal.  All  the  stores,  I  observed,  came  from  our 
stock;  and  I  could  see  the  truth  of  Silver's  words  the 
night  before.  Had  he  not  struck  a  bargain  with  the 
doctor,  he  and  his  mutineers,  deserted  by  the  ship,  must 
have  been  driven  to  subsist  on  clear  water  and  the 
proceeds  of  their  hunting.  Water  would  have  been 
little  to  their  taste ;  a  sailor  is  not  usually  a  good  shot ; 
and,  besides  all  that,  when  they  were  so  short  of  eat- 
ables, it  was  not  likely  they  would  be  very  flush  of 
powder. 

Well,  thus  equipped,  we  all  set  out  —  even  the  fellow 
with  the  broken  head,  who  should  certainly  have  kept 
in  shadow  —  and  straggled,  one  after  another,  to  the 
beach,  where  the  two  gigs  awaited  us.  Even  these 
bore  trace  of  the  drunken  folly  of  the  pirates,  one  in  a 
broken  thwart,  and  both  in  their  muddy  and  unbailed 
condition.  Both  were  to  be  carried  along  with  us,  for 
the  sake  of  safety;  and  so,  with  our  numbers  divided 
between  them,  we  set  forth  upon  the  bosom  of  the  an- 
chorage. 

As  we  pulled  over,  there  was  some  discussion  on  the 
chart.  The  red  cross  was,  of  course,  far  too  large  to  be 
a  guide;  and  the  terms  of  the  note  on  the  back,  as  you 
will  hear,  admitted  of  some  ambiguity.  They  ran,  the 
reader  may  remember,  thus  : — 

11  Tall  tree,  Spy-glass  shoulder,  bearing  a  point  to  the  N.  of  N.N.E. 
"Skeleton  Island  E.S.E.  and  by  E. 
"Ten  feet." 

239 


TREASURE   ISLAND 

A  tall  tree  was  thus  the  principal  mark.  Now,  right 
before  us,  the  anchorage  was  bounded  by  a  plateau  from 
two  to  three  hundred  feet  high,  adjoining  on  the  north 
the  sloping  southern  shoulder  of  the  Spy-glass,  and  ris- 
ing again  towards  the  south  into  the  rough,  cliffy  emi- 
nence called  the  Mizzen-mast  Hill.  The  top  of  the  pla- 
teau was  dotted  thickly  with  pine  trees  of  varying  height. 
Every  here  and  there,  one  of  a  different  species  rose  forty 
or  fifty  feet  clear  above  its  neighbours,  and  which  of 
these  was  the  particular  "tall  tree"  of  Captain  Flint 
could  only  be  decided  on  the  spot,  and  by  the  readings 
of  the  compass. 

Yet,  although  that  was  the  case,  every  man  on  board 
the  boats  had  picked  a  favourite  of  his  own  ere  we 
were  half  way  over,  Long  John  alone  shrugging  his 
shoulders  and  bidding  them  wait  till  they  were  there. 

We  pulled  easily,  by  Silver's  directions,  not  to  weary 
the  hands  prematurely ;  and,  after  quite  a  long  passage, 
landed  at  the  mouth  of  the  second  river  —  that  which 
runs  down  a  woody  cleft  of  the  Spy-glass.  Thence, 
bending  to  our  left,  we  began  to  ascend  the  slope 
towards  the  plateau. 

At  the  first  outset,  heavy,  miry  ground  and  a  matted, 
marish  vegetation,  greatly  delayed  our  progress ;  but  by 
little  and  little  the  hill  began  to  steepen  and  become 
stony  under  foot,  and  the  wood  to  change  its  character 
and  to  grow  in  a  more  open  order.  It  was,  indeed,  a 
most  pleasant  portion  of  the  island  that  we  were  now 
approaching.  A  heavy-scented  broom  and  many  flow- 
ering shrubs  had  almost  taken  the  place  of  grass. 
Thickets  of  green  nutmeg  trees  were  dotted  here  and 
there  with  the  red  columns  and  the  broad  shadow  of 

240 


THE  TREASURE  HUNT  — FLINT'S  POINTER 

the  pines;  and  the  first  mingled  their  spice  with  the 
aroma  of  the  others.  The  air,  besides,  was  fresh  and 
stirring,  and  this,  under  the  sheer  sunbeams,  was  a 
wonderful  refreshment  to  our  senses. 

The  party  spread  itself  abroad,  in  a  fan  shape,  shout- 
ing and  leaping  to  and  fro.  About  the  centre,  and  a 
good  way  behind  the  rest,  Silver  and  I  followed  —  I 
tethered  by  my  rope,  he  ploughing,  with  deep  pants, 
among  the  sliding  gravel.  From  time  to  time,  indeed, 
I  had  to  lend  him  a  hand,  or  he  must  have  missed  his 
footing  and  fallen  backward  down  the  hill. 

We  had  thus  proceeded  for  about  half  a  mile,  and 
were  approaching  the  brow  of  the  plateau,  when  the 
man  upon  the  farthest  left  began  to  cry  aloud,  as  if  in 
terror.  Shout  after  shout  came  from  him,  and  the  others 
began  to  run  in  his  direction. 

"He  can't  'a'  found  the  treasure,"  said  old  Morgan, 
hurrying  past  us  from  the  right,  M  for  that's  clean  a-top." 

Indeed,  as  we  found  when  we  also  reached  the  spot, 
it  wai,  something  very  different.  At  the  foot  of  a  pretty 
big  pine,  and  involved  in  a  green  creeper,  which  had 
even  partly  lifted  some  of  the  smaller  bones,  a  human 
skeleton  lay,  with  a  few  shreds  of  clothing,  on  the 
ground.  I  believe  a  chill  struck  for  a  moment  to  every 
heart. 

'*  He  was  a  seaman,"  said  George  Merry,  who,  bolder 
than  the  rest,  had  gone  up  close,  and  was  examining 
the  rags  of  clothing.  "Leastways,  this  is  good  sea- 
cloth." 

"Ay,  ay,"  said  Silver,  "like  enough;  you  wouldn't 
look  to  find  a  bishop  here,  I  reckon.  But  what  sort  of 
a  way  is  that  for  bones  to  lie  ?    'Tain't  in  natur'." 

241. 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

Indeed,  on  a  second  glance,  it  seemed  impossible  to 
fancy  that  the  body  was  in  a  natural  position.  But  for 
some  disarray  (the  work,  perhaps,  of  the  birds  that  had 
fed  upon  him,  or  of  the  slow-growing  creeper  that  had 
gradually  enveloped  his  remains)  the  man  lay  perfectly 
straight  —  his  feet  pointing  in  one  direction,  his  hands, 
raised  above  his  head  like  a  diver's,  pointing  directly  in 
the  opposite. 

"I've  taken  a  notion  into  my  old  numskull,"  ob- 
served Silver.  "Here's  the  compass;  there's  the  tip- 
top p'int  o'  Skeleton  Island,  stickin'  out  like  a  tooth. 
Just  take  a  bearing,  will  you,  along  the  line  of  them 
bones." 

It  was  done.  The  body  pointed  straight  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  island,  and  the  compass  read  duly  E.S.E.  and 
byE. 

"  I  thought  so,"  cried  the  cook;  "  this  here  is  a  p'inter. 
Right  up  there  is  our  line  for  the  Pole  Star  and  the  jolly 
dollars.  But,  by  thunder!  if  it  don't  make  me  cold  in- 
side to  think  of  Flint.  This  is  one  of  bis  jokes,  and  no 
mistake.  Him  and  these  six  was  alone  here ;  he  killed 
'em,  every  man ;  and  this  one  he  hauled  here  and  laid 
down  by  compass,  shiver  my  timbers!  They're  long 
bones,  and  the  hair's  been  yellow.  Ay,  that  would  be 
Allardyce.     You  mind  Allardyce,  Tom  Morgan  ?  " 

"Ay,  ay,"  returned  Morgan,  "I  mind  him;  he  owed 
me  money,  he  did,  and  took  my  knife  ashore  with  him." 

"Speaking  of  knives,"  said  another,  "why  don't  we 
find  his'n  lying  round  ?  Flint  warn't  the  man  to  pick  a 
seaman's  pocket;  and  the  birds,  I  guess,  would  leave 
it  be." 

" By  the  powers,  and  that's  true! "  cried  Silver. 
242 


THE  TREASURE  HUNT— FLINT'S  POINTER 

" There  ain't  a  thing  left  here,"  said  Merry,  still  feel- 
ing round  among  the  bones,  "not  a  copper  doit  nor  a 
baccy  box.     It  don't  look  nat'ral  to  me." 

"No,  by  gum,  it  don't,"  agreed  Silver;  "not  nat'ral, 
nor  not  nice,  says  you.  Great  guns!  messmates,  but 
if  Flint  was  living,  this  would  be  a  hot  spot  for  you  and 
me.  Six  they  were,  and  six  are  we;  and  bones  is  what 
they  are  now." 

"I  saw  him  dead  with  these  here  dead-lights,"  said 
Morgan.  ' '  Billy  took  me  in.  There  he  laid,  with  penny- 
pieces  on  his  eyes." 

"Dead  —  ay,  sure  enough  he's  dead  and  gone  below, " 
said  the  fellow  with  the  bandage ;  ' '  but  if  ever  sperrit 
walked,  it  would  be  Flint's.  Dear  heart,  but  he  died 
bad,  did  Flint!" 

"Ay,  that  he  did,"  observed  another;  "now  he 
raged,  and  now  he  hollered  for  the  rum,  and  now  he 
sang.  '  Fifteen  Men '  were  his  only  song,  mates ;  and  I 
tell  you  true,  I  never  rightly  liked  to  hear  it  since.  It  was 
main  hot,  and  the  windy  was  open,  and  I  hear  that  old 
song  comin'  out  as  clear  as  clear  —  and  the  death-haul 
on  the  man  already." 

"Come,  come,"  said  Silver,  "stow  this  talk.  He's 
dead,  and  he  don't  walk,  that  I  know;  leastways,  he 
won't  walk  by  day,  and  you  may  lay  to  that.  Care 
killed  a  cat.     Fetch  ahead  for  the  doubloons." 

We  started,  certainly ;  but  in  spite  of  the  hot  sun  and 
the  staring  daylight,  the  pirates  no  longer  ran  separate 
and  shouting  through  the  wood,  but  kept  side  by  side 
and  spoke  with  bated  breath.  The  terror  of  the  dead 
buccaneer  had  fallen  on  their  spirits. 


243 


CHAPTER  XXXII 

THE  TREASURE   HUNT  —  THE   VOICE   AMONG  THE  TREES 

Partly  from  the  damping  influence  of  this  alarm, 
partly  to  rest  Silver  and  the  sick  folk,  the  whole  party 
sat  down  as  soon  as  they  had  gained  the  brow  of  the 
ascent. 

The  plateau  being  somewhat  tilted  towards  the  west, 
this  spot  on  which  we  had  paused  commanded  a  wide 
prospect  on  either  hand.  Before  us,  over  the  tree-tops, 
we  beheld  the  Cape  of  the  Woods  fringed  with  surf ; 
behind,  we  not  only  looked  down  upon  the  anchorage 
and  Skeleton  Island,  but  saw  —  clear  across  the  spit  and 
the  eastern  lowlands  —  a  great  field  of  open  sea  upon 
the  east.  Sheer  above  us  rose  the  Spy-glass,  here  dotted 
with  single  pines,  there  black  with  precipices.  There 
was  no  sound  but  that  of  the  distant  breakers,  mount- 
ing from  all  round,  and  the  chirp  of  countless  insects  in 
the  brush.  Not  a  man,  not  a  sail  upon  the  sea;  the  very 
largeness  of  the  view  increased  the  sense  of  solitude. 

Silver,  as  he  sat,  took  certain  bearings  with  his  com- 
pass. 

"  There  are  three  'tall  trees,'  "  said  he,  "about  in  the 
right  line  from  Skeleton  Island.  'Spy-glass  Shoulder,' 
I  take  it,  means  that  lower  p'int  there.  It's  child's  play 
to  find  the  stuff  now.     I've  half  a  mind  to  dine  first." 

244 


THE  VOICE  AMONG  THE  TREES 

"I  don't  feel  sharp,"  growled  Morgan.  "Thinkin' 
o'  Flint  —  I  think  it  were  —  as  done  me." 

"Ah,  well,  my  son,  you  praise  your  stars  he's  dead," 
said  Silver. 

"He  were  an  ugly  devil,"  cried  a  third  pirate,  with  a 
shudder;  "that  blue  in  the  face,  too!  " 

"That  was  how  the  rum  took  him,"  added  Merry. 
"Blue!  well,  I  reckon  he  was  blue.  That's  a  true 
word." 

Ever  since  they  had  found  the  skeleton  and  got  upon 
this  train  of  thought,  they  had  spoken  lower  and  lower, 
and  they  had  almost  got  to  whispering  by  now,  so  that 
the  sound  of  their  talk  hardly  interrupted  the  silence  of 
the  wood.  All  of  a  sudden,  out  of  the  middle  of  the 
trees  in  front  of  us,  a  thin,  high,  trembling  voice  struck 
up  the  well-known  air  and  words: — 

"  Fifteen  men  on  the  dead  man's  chest  — 
Yo-ho-ho,  and  a  bottle  of  rum  !  " 

I  never  have  seen  men  more  dreadfully  affected  than 
the  pirates.  The  colour  went  from  their  six  faces  like 
enchantment;  some  leaped  to  their  feet,  some  clawed 
hold  of  others ;  Morgan  grovelled  on  the  ground. 

"  It's  Flint,  by ! "  cried  Merry. 

The  song  had  stopped  as  suddenly  as  it  began  — 
broken  off,  you  would  have  said,  in  the  middle  of  a 
note,  as  though  some  one  had  laid  his  hand  upon  the 
singer's  mouth.  Coming  so  far  through  the  clear,  sunny 
atmosphere  among  the  green  tree-tops,  I  thought  it  had 
sounded  airily  and  sweetly ;  and  the  effect  on  my  com- 
panions was  the  stranger. 

"Come,"  said  Silver,  struggling  with  his  ashen  lips 
245 


TREASURE   ISLAND 

to  get  the  word  out,  "  this  won't  do.  Stand  by  to  go 
about.  This  is  a  rum  start,  and  I  can't  name  the  voice: 
but  it's  some  one  skylarking  —  some  one  that's  flesh  and 
blood,  and  you  may  lay  to  that." 

His  courage  had  come  back  as  he  spoke,  and  some  of 
the  colour  to  his  face  along  with  it.  Already  the  others 
had  begun  to  lend  an  ear  to  this  encouragement,  and 
were  coming  a  little  to  themselves,  when  the  same 
voice  broke  out  again  —  not  this  time  singing,  but  in  a 
faint  distant  hail,  that  echoed  yet  fainter  among  the 
clefts  of  the  Spy-glass. 

"Darby  M'Graw,"  it  wailed  —  for  that  is  the  word 
that  best  describes  the  sound — "Darby  M'Graw!  Darby 
M'Graw  !  "  again  and  again  and  again;  and  then  rising 
a  little  higher,  and  with  an  oath  that  I  leave  out,  "  Fetch 
aft  the  rum,  Darby  ! " 

The  buccaneers  remained  rooted  to  the  ground,  their 
eyes  starting  from  their  heads.  Long  after  the  voice  had 
died  away  they  still  stared  in  silence,  dreadfully,  before 
them. 

"That  fixes  it  !  "  gasped  one.     "  Let's  go!  " 

"They  was  his  last  words,"  moaned  Morgan,  "his 
last  words  above  board." 

Dick  had  his  Bible  out,  and  was  praying  volubly.  He 
had  been  well  brought  up,  had  Dick,  before  he  came  to 
sea  and  fell  among  bad  companions. 

Still,  Silver  was  unconquered.  I  could  hear  his  teeth 
rattle  in  his  head ;  but  he  had  not  yet  surrendered. 

"  Nobody  in  this  here  island  ever  heard  of  Darby,"  he 
muttered;  "not  one  but  us  that's  here."  And  then, 
making  a  great  effort,  "  Shipmates,"  he  cried,  "I'm  here 
to  get  that  stuff,  and  I'll  not  be  beat  by  man  nor  devil. 

246 


THE  VOICE  AMONG  THE  TREES 

I  never  was  feared  of  Flint  in  his  life,  and,  by  the  pow- 
ers, I'll  face  him  dead.  There's  seven  hundred  thousand 
pound  not  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  here.  When  did 
ever  a  gentleman  o'  fortune  show  his  stern  to  that  much 
dollars,  for  a  boosy  old  seaman  with  a  blue  mug — and 
him  dead,  too  ?  " 

But  there  was  no  sign  of  re-awakening  courage  in  his 
followers;  rather,  indeed,  of  growing  terror  at  the  ir- 
reverence of  his  words. 

"  Belay  there,  John ! "  said  Merry.  "  Don't  you  cross 
a  sperrit." 

And  the  rest  were  all  too  terrified  to  reply.  They 
would  have  run  away  severally  had  they  dared ;  but  fear 
kept  them  together,  and  kept  them  close  by  John,  as  if 
his  daring  helped  them.  He,  on  his  part,  had  pretty 
well  fought  his  weakness  down. 

"  Sperrit  ?  Well,  maybe,"  he  said.  "  But  there's  one 
thing  not  clear  to  me.  There  was  an  echo.  Now,  no 
man  ever  seen  a  sperrit  with  a  shadow;  well,  then, 
what's  he  doing  with  an  echo  to  him,  I  should  like  to 
know  ?    That  ain't  in  natur',  surely  ?  " 

This  argument  seemed  weak  enough  to  me.  But  you 
can  never  tell  what  will  affect  the  superstitious,  and,  to 
my  wonder,  George  Merry  was  greatly  relieved. 

"Well,  that's  so,"  he  said.  "You've  a  head  upon 
your  shoulders,  John,  and  no  mistake.  'Bout  ship, 
mates !  This  here  crew  is  on  a  wrong  tack,  I  do  believe. 
And  come  to  think  on  it,  it  was  like  Flint's  voice,  I 
grant  you,  but  not  just  so  clear-away  like  it,  after 
all.  It  was  liker  somebody  else's  voice  now  —  it  was 
liker " 

"By  the  powers,  Ben  Gunn!  "  roared  Silver. 
247 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

' 'Ay,  and  so  it  were,"  cried  Morgan,  springing  on  his 
knees.    "  Ben  Gunn  it  were! " 

"It  don't  make  much  odds,  do  it,  now?"  asked 
Dick.  "  Ben  Gunn's  not  here  in  the  body,  any  more'n 
Flint." 

But  the  older  hands  greeted  this  remark  with  scorn. 

"Why,  nobody  minds  Ben  Gunn,"  cried  Merry; 
"dead  or  alive,  nobody  minds  him." 

It  was  extraordinary  how  their  spirits  had  returned, 
and  how  the  natural  colour  had  revived  in  their  faces. 
Soon  they  were  chatting  together,  with  intervals  of  lis- 
tening; and  not  long  after,  hearing  no  further  sound, 
they  shouldered  the  tools  and  set  forth  again,  Merry 
walking  first  with  Silver's  compass  to  keep  them  on 
the  right  line  with  Skeleton  Island.  He  had  said  the 
truth :  dead  or  alive,  nobody  minded  Ben  Gunn. 

Dick  alone  still  held  his  Bible,  and  looked  around  him 
as  he  went,  with  fearful  glances ;  but  he  found  no  sym- 
pathy, and  Silver  even  joked  him  on  his  precautions. 

"I  told  you,"  said  he —  "I  told  you,  you  had  sp'iled 
your  Bible.  If  it  ain't  no  good  to  swear  by,  what  do 
you  suppose  a  sperrit  would  give  for  it  ?  Not  that ! " 
and  he  snapped  his  big  fingers,  halting  a  moment  on  his 
crutch. 

But  Dick  was  not  to  be  comforted;  indeed,  it  was 
soon  plain  to  me  that  the  lad  was  falling  sick;  hastened 
by  heat,  exhaustion,  and  the  shock  of  his  alarm,  the  fever, 
predicted  by  Doctor  Livesey,  was  evidently  growing 
swiftly  higher. 

It  was  fine  open  walking  here,  upon  the  summit;  our 
way  lay  a  little  down-hill,  for,  as  I  have  said,  the  plateau 
tilted  towards  the  west.    The  pines,  great  and  small, 

248 


THE  VOICE  AMONG  THE  TREES 

grew  wide  apart;  and  even  between  the  clumps  of  nut- 
meg and  azalea,  wide  open  spaces  baked  in  the  hot  sun- 
shine. Striking,  as  we  did,  pretty  near  north-west  across 
the  island,  we  drew,  on  the  one  hand,  ever  nearer  under 
the  shoulders  of  the  Spy-glass,  and  on  the  other,  looked 
ever  wider  over  that  western  bay  where  I  had  once  tossed 
and  trembled  in  the  coracle. 

The  first  of  the  tall  trees  was  reached,  and  by  the  bear- 
ing, proved  the  wrong  one.  So  with  the  second.  The 
third  rose  nearly  two  hundred  feet  into  the  air  above  a 
clump  of  underwood ;  a  giant  of  a  vegetable,  with  a  red 
column  as  big  as  a  cottage,  and  a  wide  shadow  around 
in  which  a  company  could  have  manoeuvred.  It  was 
conspicuous  far  to  sea  both  on  the  east  and  west,  and 
might  have  been  entered  as  a  sailing  mark  upon  the 
chart. 

But  it  was  not  its  size  that  now  impressed  my  com- 
panions; it  was  the  knowledge  that  seven  hundred 
thousand  pounds  in  gold  lay  somewhere  buried  below 
its  spreading  shadow.  The  thought  of  the  money,  as 
they  drew  nearer,  swallowed  up  their  previous  terrors. 
Their  eyes  burned  in  their  heads ;  their  feet  grew  speedier 
and  lighter;  their  whole  soul  was  bound  up  in  that 
fortune,  that  whole  lifetime  of  extravagance  and  pleasure, 
that  lay  waiting  there  for  each  of  them. 

Silver  hobbled,  grunting,  on  his  crutch;  his  nostrils 
stood  out  and  quivered;  he  cursed  like  a  madman  when 
the  flies  settled  on  his  hot  and  shiny  countenance;  he 
plucked  furiously  at  the  line  that  held  me  to  him,  and, 
from  time  to  time,  turned  his  eyes  upon  me  with  a 
deadly  look.  Certainly  he  took  no  pains  to  hide  his 
thoughts ;  and  certainly  I  read  them  like  print.     In  the 

249 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

immediate  nearness  of  the  gold,  all  else  had  been  for- 
gotten ;  his  promise  and  the  doctor's  warning  were  both 
things  of  the  past;  and  I  could  not  doubt  that  he  hoped 
to  seize  upon  the  treasure,  find  and  board  the  HiSpaniola 
under  cover  of  night,  cut  every  honest  throat  about  that 
island,  and  sail  away  as  he  had  at  first  intended,  laden 
with  crimes  and  riches. 

Shaken  as  I  was  with  these  alarms,  it  was  hard  for  me 
to  keep  up  with  the  rapid  pace  of  the  treasure-hunters. 
Now  and  again  I  stumbled;  and  it  was  then  that  Silver 
plucked  so  roughly  at  the  rope  and  launched  at  me  his 
murderous  glances.  Dick,  who  had  dropped  behind  us, 
and  now  brought  up  the  rear,  was  babbling  to  himself 
both  prayers  and  curses,  as  his  fever  kept  rising.  This 
also  added  to  my  wretchedness,  and,  to  crown  all,  I  was 
haunted  by  the  thought  of  the  tragedy  that  had  once  been 
acted  on  that  plateau,  when  that  ungodly  buccaneer  with 
the  blue  face  —  he  who  died  at  Savannah,  singing  and 
shouting  for  drink  —  had  there,  with  his  own  hand,  cut 
down  his  six  accomplices.  This  grove,  that  was  now 
so  peaceful,  must  then  have  rung  with  cries,  I  thought; 
and  even  with  the  thought  I  could  believe  I  heard  it 
ringing  still. 

We  were  now  at  the  margin  of  the  thicket. 

"  Huzza,  mates,  all  together! "  shouted  Merry ;  and  the 
foremost  broke  into  a  run. 

And  suddenly,  not  ten  yards  further,  we  beheld  them 
stop.  A  low  cry  arose.  Silver  doubled  his  pace,  digging 
away  with  the  foot  of  his  crutch  like  one  possessed ; 
and  next  moment  he  and  I  had  come  also  to  a  dead  halt. 

Before  us  was  a  great  excavation,  not  very  recent,  for 
the  sides  had  fallen  in  and  grass  had  sprouted  on  the 

250 


THE  VOICE  AMONG  THE  TREES 

bottom.  In  this  were  the  shaft  of  a  pick  broken  in  two 
and  the  boards  of  several  packing-cases  strewn  around. 
On  one  of  these  boards  I  saw,  branded  with  a  hot  iron, 
the  name  Walrus — the  name  of  Flint's  ship. 

All  was  clear  to  probation.  The  cache  had  been 
found  and  rifled :  the  seven  hundred  thousand  pounds 
were  gonel 


251 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 

THE   FALL   OF   A   CHIEFTAIN 

There  never  was  such  an  overturn  in  this  world.  Each 
of  these  six  men  was  as  though  he  had  been  struck.  But 
with  Silver  the  blow  passed  almost  instantly.  Every 
thought  of  his  soul  had  been  set  full-stretch,  like  a  racer, 
on  that  money;  well,  he  was  brought  up  in  a  single 
second,  dead;  and  he  kept  his  head,  found  his  temper, 
and  changed  his  plan  before  the  others  had  had  time  to 
realize  the  disappointment. 

"Jim,"  he  whispered,  "take  that,  and  stand  by  for 
trouble." 

And  he  passed  me  a  double-barrelled  pistol. 

At  the  same  time  he  began  quietly  moving  northward, 
and  in  a  few  steps  had  put  the  hollow  between  us  two 
and  the  other  five.  Then  he  looked  at  me  and  nodded, 
as  much  as  to  say,  "Here  is  a  narrow  corner,"  as,  in- 
deed, I  thought  it  was.  His  looks  were  now  quite 
friendly ;  and  I  was  so  revolted  at  these  constant  changes, 
that  I  could  not  forbear  whispering,  "So  you've  changed 
sides  again." 

There  was  no  time  left  for  him  to  answer  in.  The 
buccaneers,  with  oaths  and  cries,  began  to  leap,  one  after 
another,  into  the  pit,  and  to  dig  with  their  fingers,  throw- 
ing the  boards  aside  as  they  did  so.     Morgan  found  a 

2S2 


THE  FALL  OF  A  CHIEFTAIN 

piece  of  gold.  He  held  it  up  with  a  perfect  spout  of 
oaths.  It  was  a  two-guinea  piece,  and  it  went  from 
hand  to  hand  among  them  for  a  quarter  of  a  minute. 

"Two  guineas!"  roared  Merry,  shaking  it  at  Silver. 
"That's  your  seven  hundred  thousand  pounds,  is  it? 
You're  the  man  for  bargains,  ain't  you?  You're  him 
that  never  bungled  nothing,  you  wooden-headed  lub- 
ber!" 

"Dig  away,  boys,"  said  Silver,  with  the  coolest  in- 
solence; "you'll  find  some  pig-nuts  and  I  shouldn't 
wonder." 

"  Pig-nuts! "  repeated  Merry,  in  a  scream.  "Mates, 
do  you  hear  that?  I  tell  you,  now,  that  man  there 
knew  it  all  along.  Look  in  the  face  of  him,  and  you'll 
set  it  wrote  there." 

"Ah,  Merry,"  remarked  Silver,  "standing  for  cap'n 
again  ?    You're  a  pushing  lad,  to  be  sure." 

But  this  time  every  one  was  entirely  in  Merry's  favour. 
They  began  to  scramble  out  of  the  excavation,  darting 
furious  glances  behind  them.  One  thing  I  observed, 
which  looked  well  for  us :  they  all  got  out  upon  the  op- 
posite side  from  Silver. 

Well,  there  we  stood,  two  on  one  side,  five  on  the 
other,  the  pit  between  us,  and  nobody  screwed  up  high 
enough  to  offer  the  first  blow.  Silver  never  moved ;  he 
watched  them,  very  upright  on  his  crutch,  and  looked 
as  cool  as  ever  I  saw  him.  He  was  brave,  and  no  mis- 
take. 

At  last,  Merry  seemed  to  think  a  speech  might  help 
matters. 

"Mates,"  says  he,  "there's  two  of  them  alone  there; 
one's  the  old  cripple  that  brought  -us  all  here  and  blun- 

253 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

dered  us  down  to  this ;  the  other's  that  cub  that  I  mean 
to  have  the  heart  of.     Now,  mates " 

He  was  raising  his  arm  and  his  voice,  and  plainly 
meant  to  lead  a  charge.  But  just  then  —  crack!  crack! 
crack!  —  three  musket-shots  flashed  out  of  the  thicket. 
Merry  tumbled  head  foremost  into  the  excavation ;  the 
man  with  the  bandage  spun  round  like  a  teetotum,  and 
fell  all  his  length  upon  his  side,  where  he  lay  dead,  but 
still  twitching;  and  the  other  three  turned  and  ran  for  it 
with  all  their  might. 

Before  you  could  wink,  Long  John  had  fired  two  bar- 
rels of  a  pistol  into  the  struggling  Merry ;  and  as  the  man 
rolled  up  his  eyes  at  him  in  the  last  agony,  "  George," 
said  he,  "I  reckon  I  settled  you." 

At  the  same  moment  the  doctor,  Gray,  and  Ben  Gunn 
joined  us,  with  smoking  muskets,  from  among  the  nut- 
meg trees. 

"Forward!"  cried  the  doctor.  "Double  quick,  my 
lads.     We  must  head  'em  off  the  boats." 

And  we  set  off  at  a  great  pace,  sometimes  plunging 
through  the  bushes  to  the  chest. 

I  tell  you,  but  Silver  was  anxious  to  keep  up  with  us. 
The  work  that  man  went  through,  leaping  on  his  crutch 
till  the  muscles  of  his  chest  were  fit  to  burst,  was  work 
no  sound  man  ever  equalled ;  and  so  thinks  the  doctor. 
As  it  was,  he  was  already  thirty  yards  behind  us,  and 
on  the  verge  of  strangling,  when  we  reached  the  brow 
of  the  slope. 

"Doctor,"  he  hailed,  "see  there!   no  hurry!" 

Sure  enough  there  was  no  hurry.  In  a  more  open 
part  of  the  plateau,  we  could  see  the  three  survivors  still 
running  in  the  same  direction  as  they  had  started,  right 

254 


THE  FALL  OF  A  CHIEFTAIN 

for  Mizzen-mast  Hill.  We  were  already  between  them 
and  the  boats;  and  so  we  four  sat  down  to  breathe, 
while  Long  John,  mopping  his  face,  came  slowly  up 
with  us. 

"  Thank  ye  kindly,  doctor,"  says  he.  "  You  came  in 
in  about  the  nick,  I  guess,  for  me  and  Hawkins.  And 
so  it's  you,  Ben  Gunn!"  he  added.  "Well,  you're  a 
nice  one  to  be  sure." 

"I'm  Ben  Gunn,  I  am,"  replied  the  maroon,  wrig- 
gling like  an  eel  in  his  embarrassment.  "And,"  he 
added,  after  a  long  pause,  "how  do,  Mr.  Silver  ?  Pretty 
well,  I  thank  ye,  says  you." 

"Ben,  Ben,"  murmured  Silver,  "to  think  as  you've 
done  me! " 

The  doctor  sent  back  Gray  for  one  of  the  pickaxes, 
deserted,  in  their  flight,  by  the  mutineers;  and  then  as 
we  proceeded  leisurely  down  hill  to  where  the  boats 
were  lying,  related,  in  a  few  words,  what  had  taken 
place.  It  was  a  story  that  profoundly  interested  Silver; 
and  Ben  Gunn,  the  half-idiot  maroon,  was  the  hero  from 
beginning  to  end. 

Ben,  in  his  long,  lonely  wanderings  about  the  island, 
had  found  the  skeleton  —  it  was  he  that  had  rilled  it;  he 
had  found  the  treasure;  he  had  dug  it  up  (it  was  the 
haft  of  his  pickaxe  that  lay  broken  in  the  excavation); 
he  had  carried  it  on  his  back,  in  many  weary  journeys, 
from  the  foot  of  the  tall  pine  to  a  cave  he  had  on  the 
two-pointed  hill  at  the  north-east  angle  of  the  island, 
and  there  it  had  lain  stored  in  safety  since  two  months 
before  the  arrival  of  the  Hispaniola. 

When  the  doctor  had  wormed  this  secret  from  him, 
on  the  afternoon  of  the  attack,  and  when,  next  morning, 

255 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

he  saw  the  anchorage  deserted,  he  had  gone  to  Silver, 
given  him  the  chart,  which  was  now  useless  —  given 
him  the  stores,  for  Ben  Gunn's  cave  was  well  supplied 
with  goats'  meat  salted  by  himself — given  anything  and 
everything  to  get  a  chance  of  moving  in  safety  from  the 
stockade  to  the  two-pointed  hill,  there  to  be  clear  of 
malaria  and  keep  a  guard  upon  the  money. 

"As  for  you,  Jim,"  he  said,  "it  went  against  my 
heart,  but  I  did  what  I  thought  best  for  those  who  had 
stood  by  their  duty ;  and  if  you  were  not  one  of  these, 
whose  fault  was  it  ?  " 

That  morning,  finding  that  I  was  to  be  involved  in 
the  horrid  disappointment  he  had  prepared  for  the  mu- 
tineers, he  had  run  all  the  way  to  the  cave,  and,  leaving 
the  squire  to  guard  the  captain,  had  taken  Gray  and  the 
maroon,  and  started,  making  the  diagonal  across  the 
island,  to  be  at  hand  beside  the  pine.  Soon,  however, 
he  saw  that  our  party  had  the  start  of  him ;  and  Ben 
Gunn,  being  fleet  of  foot,  had  been  despatched  in  front 
to  do  his  best  alone.  Then  it  had  occurred  to  him  to 
work  upon  the  superstitions  of  his  former  shipmates ; 
and  he  was  so  far  successful  that  Gray  and  the  doctor 
had  come  up  and  were  already  ambushed  before  the  ar- 
rival of  the  treasure-hunters. 

"  Ah,"  said  Silver,  "  it  were  fortunate  for  me  that  I 
had  Hawkins  here.  You  would  have  let  old  John  be 
cut  to  bits,  and  never  given  it  a  thought,  doctor." 

"Not  a  thought,"  replied  Doctor  Livesey,  cheerily. 

And  by  this  time  we  had  reached  the  gigs.  The 
doctor,  with  a  pickaxe,  demolished  one  of  them,  and 
then  we  all  got  aboard  the  other,  and  set  out  to  go 
round  by  sea  for  North  Inlet. 

256 


THE  FALL  OF  A  CHIEFTAIN 

This  was  a  run  of  eight  or  nine  miles.  Silver,  though 
he  was  almost  killed  already  with  fatigue,  was  set  to 
an  oar,  like  the  rest  of  us,  and  we  were  soon  skimming 
swiftly  over  a  smooth  sea.  Soon  we  passed  out  of  the 
straits  and  doubled  the  south-east  corner  of  the  island, 
round  which,  four  days  ago,  we  had  towed  the  Hispa- 
niola. 

As  we  passed  the  two-pointed  hill,  we  could  see  the 
black  mouth  of  Ben  Gunn's  cave,  and  a  figure  standing 
by  it,  leaning  on  a  musket.  It  was  the  squire ;  and  we 
waved  a  handkerchief  and  gave  hirn  three  cheers,  in 
which  the  voice  of  Silver  joined  as  heartily  as  any. 

Three  miles  farther,  just  inside  the  mouth  of  North 
Inlet,  what  should  we  meet  but  the  Hi§paniola,  cruising 
by  herself?  The  last  flood  had  lifted  her;  and  had  there 
been  much  wind,  or  a  strong  tide  current,  as  in  the 
southern  anchorage,  we  should  never  have  found  her 
more,  or  found  her  stranded  beyond  help.  As  it  was, 
there  was  little  amiss,  beyond  the  wreck  of  the  mainsail. 
Another  anchor  was  got  ready,  and  dropped  in  a  fathom 
and  a  half  of  water.  We  all  pulled  round  again  to  Rum 
Cove,  the  nearest  point  for  Ben  Gunn's  treasure-house; 
and  then  Gray,  single-handed,  returned  with  the  gig  to 
the  Hi§paniola,  where  he  was  to  pass  the  night  on 
guard. 

A  gentle  slope  ran  up  from  the  beach  to  the  entrance 
of  the  cave.  At  the  top,  the  squire  met  us.  To  me  he 
was  cordial  and  kind,  saying  nothing  of  my  escapade, 
either  in  the  way  of  blame  or  praise.  At  Silver's  polite 
salute  he  somewhat  flushed. 

"John  Silver, "he  said,  "you're  a  prodigious  villain 
and  impostor  —  a  monstrous  impostor,  sir.    I  am  told  I 

257 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

am  not  to  prosecute  you.  Well,  then,  I  will  not.  But 
the  dead  men,  sir,  hang  about  your  neck  like  mill- 
stones." 

" Thank  you  kindly,  sir,"  replied  Long  John,  again 
saluting. 

"I  dare  you  to  thank  me! "  cried  the  squire.  " It  is 
a  gross  dereliction  of  my  duty.     Stand  back." 

And  thereupon  we  all  entered  the  cave.  It  was  a 
large,  airy  place,  with  a  little  spring  and  a  pool  of  clear 
water,  overhung  with  ferns.  The  floor  was  sand.  Be- 
fore a  big  fire  lay  Captain  Smollett;  and  in  a  far  corner, 
only  duskily  flickered  over  by  the  blaze,  I  beheld  great 
heaps  of  coin  and  quadrilaterals  built  of  bars  of  gold. 
That  was  Flint's  treasure  that  we  had  come  so  far  to 
seek,  and  that  had  cost  already  the  lives  of  seventeen 
men  from  the  Hispaniola.  How  many  it  had  cost  in  the 
amassing,  what  blood  and  sorrow,  what  good  ships 
scuttled  on  the  deep,  what  brave  men  walking  the  plank 
blindfold,  what  shot  of  cannon,  what  shame  and  lies  and 
cruelty,  perhaps  no  man  alive  could  tell.  Yet  there  were 
still  three  upon  that  island — Silver,  and  old  Morgan, 
and  Ben  Gunn  —  who  had  each  taken  his  share  in  these 
crimes,  as  each  had  hoped  in  vain  to  share  in  the  re- 
ward. 

"Come  in,  Jim,"  said  the  captain.  "You're  a  good 
boy  in  your  line,  Jim ;  but  I  don't  think  you  and  me'll  go 
to  sea  again.  You're  too  much  of  the  born  favourite  for 
me.  Is  that  you,  John  Silver  ?  What  brings  you  here, 
man  ?  " 

"Come  back  to  my  dooty,  sir,"  returned  Silver. 

"  Ah!  "  said  the  captain;  and  that  was  all  he  said. 

What  a  supper  I  had  of  it  that  night,  with  all  my 
258 


THE  FALL  OF  A  CHIEFTAIN 

friends  around  me ;  and  what  a  meal  it  was,  with  Ben 
Gunn's  salted  goat,  and  some  delicacies  and  a  bottle  of 
old  wine  from  the  Hispanwla.  Never,  I  am  sure,  were 
people  gayer  or  happier.  And  there  was  Silver,  sitting 
back  almost  out  of  the  firelight,  but  eating  heartily, 
prompt  to  spring  forward  when  anything  was  wanted, 
even  joining  quietly  in  our  laughter  —  the  same  bland, 
polite,  obsequious  seaman  of  the  voyage  out. 


259 


CHAPTER  XXXIV 

AND   LAST 

The  next  morning  we  fell  early  to  work,  for  the  trans- 
portation of  this  great  mass  of  gold  near  a  mile  by  land 
to  the  beach,  and  thence  three  miles  by  boat  to  the 
HiZpaniola,  was  a  considerable  task  for  so  small  a  num- 
ber of  workmen.  The  three  fellows  still  abroad  upon 
the  island  did  not  greatly  trouble  us ;  a  single  sentry  on 
the  shoulder  of  the  hill  was  sufficient  to  insure  us  against 
any  sudden  onslaught,  and  we  thought,  besides,  they 
had  had  more  than  enough  of  fighting. 

Therefore  the  work  was  pushed  on  briskly.  Gray  and 
Ben  Gunn  came  and  went  with  the  boat,  while  the  rest, 
during  their  absences,  piled  treasure  on  the  beach.  Two 
of  the  bars,  slung  in  a  rope's-end,  made  a  good  load  for 
a  grown  man  —  one  that  he  was  glad  to  walk  slowly 
with.  For  my  part,  as  I  was  not  much  use  at  carrying, 
I  was  kept  busy  all  day  in  the  cave,  packing  the  minted 
money  into  bread-bags. 

It  was  a  strange  collection,  like  Billy  Bones's  hoard 
for  the  diversity  of  coinage,  but  so  much  larger  and  so 
much  more  varied  that  I  think  I  never  had  more  pleas- 
ure than  in  sorting  them.  English,  French,  Spanish, 
Portuguese,  Georges,  and  Louises,  doubloons  and  double 
guineas  and  moidores  and  sequins,  the  pictures  of  all  the 


CHAPTER   LAST 

kings  of  Europe  for  the  last  hundred  years,  strange  Ori- 
ental pieces  stamped  with  what  looked  like  wisps  of 
string  or  bits  of  spider's  web,  round  pieces  and  square 
pieces,  and  pieces  bored  through  the  middle,  as  if  to 
wear  them  round  your  neck  —  nearly  every  variety  of 
money  in  the  world  must,  I  think,  have  found  a  place 
in  that  collection ;  and  for  number,  I  am  sure  they  were 
like  autumn  leaves,  so  that  my  back  ached  with  stoop- 
ing and  my  fingers  with  sorting  them  out. 

Day  after  day  this  work  went  on ;  by  every  evening  a 
fortune  had  been  stowed  aboard,  but  there  was  another 
fortune  waiting  for  the  morrow ;  and  all  this  time  we 
heard  nothing  of  the  three  surviving  mutineers. 

At  last  —  I  think  it  was  on  the  third  night  —  the  doc- 
tor and  I  were  strolling  on  the  shoulder  of  the  hill  where 
it  overlooks  the  lowlands  of  the  isle,  when,  from  out  the 
thick  darkness  below,  the  wind  brought  us  a  noise  be- 
tween shrieking  and  singing.  It  was  only  a  snatch  that 
reached  our  ears,  followed  by  the  former  silence. 

1 '  Heaven  forgive  them, "  said  the  doctor,  ■ '  'tis  the  mu- 
tineers !  " 

"All  drunk,  sir,"  struck  in  the  voice  of  Silver  from 
behind  us. 

Silver,  I  should  say,  was  allowed  his  entire  liberty, 
and,  in  spite  of  daily  rebuffs,  seemed  to  regard  himself 
once  more  as  quite  a  privileged  and  friendly  dependant. 
Indeed,  it  was  remarkable  how  well  he  bore  these 
slights,  and  with  what  unwearying  politeness  he  kept 
on  trying  to  ingratiate  himself  with  all.  Yet,  I  think, 
none  treated  him  better  than  a  dog;  unless  it  was  Ben 
Gunn,  who  was  still  terribly  afraid  of  his  old  quarter- 
master, or  myself,  who  had  really  something  to  thank 

261 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

him  for;  although  for  that  matter,  I  suppose,  I  had 
reason  to  think  even  worse  of  him  than  anybody  else, 
for  I  had  seen  him  meditating  a  fresh  treachery  upon  the 
plateau.  Accordingly,  it  was  pretty  gruffly  that  the 
doctor  answered  him. 

"Drunk  or  raving,"  said  he. 

"  Right  you  were,  sir,"  replied  Silver;  "  and  precious 
little  odds  which,  to  you  and  me." 

"I  suppose  you  would  hardly  ask  me  to  call  you  a 
humane  man,"  returned  the  doctor,  with  a  sneer,  "and 
so  my  feelings  may  surprise  you,  Master  Silver.  But  if 
I  were  sure  they  were  raving  —  as  I  am  morally  certain 
one,  at  least,  of  them  is  down  with  fever  —  I  should 
leave  this  camp,  and,  at  whatever  risk  to  my  own  car- 
cass, take  them  the  assistance  of  my  skill." 

"Ask  your  pardon,  sir,  you  would  be  very  wrong," 
quoth  Silver.  "You  would  lose  your  precious  life,  and 
you  may  lay  to  that.  I'm  on  your  side  now,  hand  and 
glove;  and  I  shouldn't  wish  for  to  see  the  party  weak- 
ened, let  alone  yourself,  seeing  as  I  know  what  I  owes 
you.  But  these  men  down  there,  they  couldn't  keep  their 
word  —  no,  not  supposing  they  wished  to ;  and  what's 
more,  they  couldn't  believe  as  you  could." 

"No,"  said  the  doctor.  "You're  the  man  to  keep 
your  word,  we  know  that." 

Well,  that  was  about  the  last  news  we  had  of  the 
three  pirates.  Only  once  we  heard  a  gunshot  a  great 
way  off,  and  supposed  them  to  be  hunting.  A  council 
was  held,  and  it  was  decided  that  we  must  desert  them 
on  the  island  —  to  the  huge  glee,  I  must  say,  of  Ben 
Gunn,  and  with  the  strong  approval  of  Gray.  We  left  a 
good  stock  of  powder  and  shot,  the  bulk  of  the  salt 

262 


CHAPTER  LAST 

goat,  a  few  medicines,  and  some  other  necessaries,  tools, 
clothing,  a  spare  sail,  a  fathom  or  two  of  rope,  and,  by 
the  particular  desire  of  the  doctor,  a  handsome  present 
of  tobacco. 

That  was  about  our  last  doing  on  the  island.  Before 
that,  we  had  got  the  treasure  stowed,  and  had  shipped 
enough  water  and  the  remainder  of  the  goat  meat,  in 
case  of  any  distress ;  and  at  last,  one  fine  morning,  we 
weighed  anchor,  which  was  about  all  that  we  could 
manage,  and  stood  out  of  North  Inlet,  the  same  colours 
flying  that  the  captain  had  flown  and  fought  under  at 
the  palisade. 

The  three  fellows  must  have  been  watching  us  closer 
than  we  thought  for,  as  we  soon  had  proved.  For, 
coming  through  the  narrows,  we  had  to  lie  very  near 
the  southern  point,  and  there  we  saw  all  three  of  them 
kneeling  together  on  a  spit  of  sand,  with  their  arms 
raised  in  supplication.  It  went  to  all  our  hearts,  I  think, 
to  leave  them  in  that  wretched  state ;  but  we  could  not 
risk  another  mutiny;  and  to  take  them  home  for  the 
gibbet  would  have  been  a  cruel  sort  of  kindness.  The 
doctor  hailed  them  and  told  them  of  the  stores  we  had 
left,  and  where  they  were  to  find  them.  But  they  con- 
tinued to  call  us  by  name,  and  appeal  to  us,  for  God's 
sake,  to  be  merciful,  and  not  leave  them  to  die  in  such 
a  place. 

At  last,  seeing  the  ship  still  bore  on  her  course,  and 
was  now  swiftly  drawing  out  of  earshot,  one  of  them  — 
I  know  not  which  it  was — leapt  to  his  feet  with  a  hoarse 
cry,  whipped  his  musket  to  his  shoulder,  and  sent  a 
shot  whistling  over  Silver's  head  and  through  the  main- 
sail. 

263 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

After  that,  we  kept  under  cover  of  the  bulwarks,  and 
when  next  I  looked  out  they  had  disappeared  from  the 
spit,  and  the  spit  itself  had  almost  melted  out  of  sight  in 
the  growing  distance.  That  was,  at  least,  the  end  of 
that;  and  before  noon,  to  my  inexpressible  joy,  the 
highest  rock  of  Treasure  Island  had  sunk  into  the  blue 
round  of  sea. 

We  were  so  short  of  men,  that  every  one  on  board 
had  to  bear  a  hand  —  only  the  captain  lying  on  a  mat- 
tress in  the  stern  and  giving  his  orders;  for,  though 
greatly  recovered  he  was  still  in  want  of  quiet.  We 
laid  her  head  for  the  nearest  port  in  Spanish  America, 
for  we  could  not  risk  the  voyage  home  without  fresh 
hands ;  and  as  it  was,  what  with  baffling  winds  and  a 
couple  of  fresh  gales,  we  were  all  worn  out  before  we 
reached  it. 

It  was  just  at  sundown  when  we  cast  anchor  in  a 
most  beautiful  land-locked  gulf,  and  were  immediately 
surrounded  by  shore  boats  full  of  negroes,  and  Mexican 
Indians,  and  half-bloods,  selling  fruits  and  vegetables, 
and  offering  to  dive  for  bits  of  money.  The  sight  of  so 
many  good-humoured  faces  (especially  the  blacks),  the 
taste  of  the  tropical  fruits,  and  above  all,  the  lights  that 
began  to  shine  in  the  town,  made  a  most  charming  con- 
trast to  our  dark  and  bloody  sojourn  on  the  island;  and 
the  doctor  and  the  squire,  taking  me  along  with  them, 
went  ashore  to  pass  the  early  part  of  the  night.  Here 
they  met  the  captain  of  an  English  man-of-war,  fell  in 
talk  with  him,  went  on  board  his  ship,  and,  in  short, 
had  so  agreeable  a  time,  that  day  was  breaking  when  we 
came  alongside  the  Hispaniola. 

Ben  Gunn  was  on  deck  alone,  and,  as  soon  as  we 
264 


CHAPTER  LAST 

came  on  board,  he  began,  with  wonderful  contortions, 
to  make  us  a  confession.  Silver  was  gone.  The  ma- 
roon had  connived  at  his  escape  in  a  shore  boat  some 
hours  ago,  and  he  now  assured  us  he  had  only  done  so 
to  preserve  our  lives,  which  would  certainly  have  been 
forfeit  if  ' '  that  man  with  the  one  leg  had  stayed  aboard. " 
But  this  was  not  all.  The  sea-cook  had  not  gone  empty- 
handed.  He  had  cut  through  a  bulkhead  unobserved, 
and  had  removed  one  of  the  sacks  of  coin,  worth,  per- 
haps, three  or  four  hundred  guineas,  to  help  him  on  his 
further  wanderings. 

I  think  we  were  all  pleased  to  be  so  cheaply  quit  of 
him. 

Well,  to  make  a  long  story  short,  we  got  a  few  hands 
on  board,  made  a  good  cruise  home,  and  the  Hispaniola 
reached  Bristol  just  as  Mr.  Blandly  was  beginning  to 
think  of  fitting  out  her  consort.  Five  men  only  of  those 
who  had  sailed  returned  with  her.  "Drink  and  the 
devil  had  done  for  the  rest,"  with  a  vengeance;  al- 
though, to  be  sure,  we  were  not  quite  in  so  bad  a  case 
as  that  other  ship  they  sang  about: 

"  With  one  man  of  her  crew  alive, 
What  put  to  sea  with  seventy-five." 

All  of  us  had  an  ample  share  of  the  treasure,  and  used 
it  wisely  or  foolishly,  according  to  our  natures.  Cap- 
tain Smollett  is  now  retired  from  the  sea.  Gray  not 
only  saved  his  money,  but,  being  suddenly  smit  with 
the  desire  to  rise,  also  studied  his  profession ;  and  he  is 
now  mate  and  part  owner  of  a  fine  full-rigged  ship; 
married  besides,  and  the  father  of  a  family.  As  for  Ben 
Gunn,  he  got  a  thousand  pounds,  which  he  spent  of 

265 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

lost  in  three  weeks,  or,  to  be  more  exact,  in  nineteen 
days,  for  he  was  back  begging  on  the  twentieth.  Then 
he  was  given  a  lodge  to  keep,  exactly  as  he  had  feared 
upon  the  island;  and  he  still  lives,  a  great  favourite, 
though  something  of  a  butt,  with  the  country  boys,  and 
a  notable  singer  in  church  on  Sundays  and  saints'  days. 

Of  Silver  we  have  heard  no  more.  That  formidable 
seafaring  man  with  one  leg  has  at  last  gone  clean  out  of 
my  life ;  but  I  daresay  he  met  his  old  negress,  and  per- 
haps still  lives  in  comfort  with  her  and  Captain  Flint. 
It  is  to  be  hoped  so,  I  suppose,  for  his  chances  of  com- 
fort in  another  world  are  very  small. 

The  bar  silver  and  the  arms  still  lie,  for  all  that  I  know, 
where  Flint  buried  them;  and  certainly  they  shall  lie 
there  for  me.  Oxen  and  wain-ropes  would  not  bring 
me  back  again  to  that  accursed  island ;  and  the  worst 
dreams  that  ever  I  have  are  when  I  hear  the  surf  boom- 
ing about  its  coasts,  or  start  upright  in  bed,  with  the 
sharp  voice  of  Captain  Flint  still  ringing  in  my  ears : 
"  Pieces  of  eight !  pieces  of  eight ! " 


266 


PUSHfo 
V.  2- 


